The Political Whore

And that is a big fat raspberry and a moral lesson in doing what is right. On Friday, Mayor Pam Iorio made a stand that is the best thing she has ever done in her political career: She told county leaders she won’t even consider merging or consolidating functions with them because of their anti-gay stance. As she wrote to Times reporter Bill Varian in response to county commissioners’ overtures about merging parks and recreation departments:

We should not merge any services where our values are not compatible. The County’s lack of tolerance towards a segment of our community cannot be allowed to affect the services provided by Parks and Recreation.

Yes, Ronda Storms’ crusade of intolerance back in 2005 lives on. It is county policy not to recognize gay pride events, a policy that Storms made sure can only be overturned by a supermajority vote of the County Commission. As Iorio rightly points out in her e-mail, merging with the county parks department could endanger some city-support gay events:

The county took over the library system many years ago. (It has its own county-wide millage rate) This worked well until a few years ago when the BOCC decided not to allow any Gay pride displays at the libraries. This I very much disagreed with and thought it sent the wrong tone for the entire community. The City co-sponsors through our Parks and Recreation Department many special events as I mentioned above. One for example is Winter Pride at Al Lopez Park.

In my recent “Fix It Now” column, item No. 9 was “Stop beating up on gay people:”

We waste far too much time, energy and newsprint writing about the battle over gay marriage or transgender firings. Richard Florida was right; communities that embrace tolerance and diversity outperform those that don’t. Even if you aren’t down with homosexuality because of your religion or whatever psychosexual hang-ups you have, just walk away from this fight.

Iorio shows why this is so important. No matter what you think about the mayor, take time today to send her an e-mail of support for her strong stance and for the warning shot across the bow of the county leaders. There is a price we pay for intolerance, in lost economic growth, in government efficiency, and in creative and cultural richness. (While you’re at it, send some love over to the county commissioners and urge them to repeal their hateful gay pride resolution.)

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