Editorial cartoon from RC Weekly News - Mayor Shaw, Principal Jones and Sam Kooiker

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Go check out the full size version of the cartoon here at the Rapid City Weekly News as editorial cartoonist Andy Jacobs illustrates the Rapid City version of "Cars"as Tom Lawrence opines about their use and misuse:

We ran a pair of vehicle-related stories last week. One was about Central High School Principal Pat Jones being suspended (without pay) after admitting to using a district-owned vehicle for travel that wasn’t related to his duties.

By all accounts, Jones is a decent person who made a mistake and admitted to it. There doesn’t seem to be a scandal here; it seems more like a reminder that public property is not for the personal use of the people who work for us.

Another was a story we had worked on for weeks on accusations that Mayor Jim Shaw had driven his city-issued vehicle for personal use. A pair of aldermen, Sam Kooiker and Michael Schumacher, are leveling that charge as well as making other claims of city hall shenanigans.

We held the story for some time and pondered whether or not it was something the public had a right to know about, but the disclosure of an additional $28,000 added to the council travel fund tipped the decision in favor of publishing.

Shaw has been in the news a lot in the past year or so, from his battle with Legionnaire’s disease, his heart surgery and his scuffle with an Iowa State Fair police officer. But through it all he has kept up a brave front, smiling and waving in public, as I saw him do last Thursday at the Rapid City Area Chamber of Commerce’s Awards Luncheon.

Should Shaw be punished for putting a few miles on a city-owned vehicle? That’s not for me to decide, but I doubt this rises to the level of Watergate.

It’s just another reminder that when you’re in the public eye, people are watching.

Read it all here.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I enjoy the cartoons by Andy Jacobs in the Rapid city weekly, He is very funny, I hope he keeps up the good work.
2:03 PM
Anonymous said…
The cartoon points out the double standard. Pat Jones was honest and was suspended. Shaw has not been honest about his travel and there have been no consequences.
8:34 PM
Anonymous said…
Did Shaw take a city owned vehicle to the Iowa fair?
7:23 AM
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