Disgusted by actions of "new" city council

To the Editor:

Anger is a word I've heard referenced often in our city as of late. The very people to whom the citizens of Poplar Bluff have entrusted community leadership have instilled this. To the members of the city council who found it necessary to fire our city manager, please realize that it is not just the waste of a valued and knowledgeable employee that makes me burn with enough contempt for you to write this letter. More, it is your apparent lack of regard for the integrity of your office. Was it really necessary to resort to subterfuge to accomplish your goal? Is this the "new direction" of which you so often speak, Mayor Pearson? And while we're on the subject, I don't recall a single definition of what your "new direction" actually means.

Anger is not an emotion in and of itself. It is actually comprised of other underlying emotions, primarily grief and/or fear. No wonder there is so much of it floating around out there these days. As for me, I feel grief over a community that is at odds with itself. And I fear that this power trip Mayor Pearson and Councilmen Tinsley, Johnson, Rushin, and Brannum are on has become a powerful drug. So far, I'm not impressed with your "new direction."

Cynthia J. Jackson

Poplar Bluff, Mo.