An overly defensive Tom Lyons gets it wrong
April 24th, 2007 by max linsky in News, Politics
In his column today, the HT’s leading voice took on Mayor Fredd Atkins, specifically this exchange from Todd Ruger and Carol E. Lee’s “Nobody’s got a problem with Stanton being trangendered†story on Friday:
“The people of Sarasota don’t have an issue, you have an issue,” Atkins told a reporter asking about Stanton’s application. “We have the same rules and regulations for every applicant. … Any qualified candidate can apply.”
Lyons felt the need to defend the paper — “Neither the reporter nor this newspaper implied any objection to Stanton’s being the gender he wants to be†— and used the exchange as a chance to knock Atkins’ relationship with the press. (Read: the Herald-Tribune.)
This was just Atkins being snotty to a reporter. He does that no matter how polite they are with him. He treats almost every press question as a hostile one, and as a cue to do a gratuitous put-down.
I’ve interviewed Atkins, so has Joel, and that hasn’t been my experience. Even so, Lyons whining about access is like Alex Rodriguez whining about his bank statement. Commissioners, developers, socialites — they all need to talk to the HT. That Atkins doesn’t offer the “cozy†relationship Lyons asks for in the last line of his column, is, I’d argue, a testament to the Mayor’s independence from the only daily in town.
But more importantly, the story here is not that Atkins was kinda sorta mean to an HT scribe — the story is how little our leaders actually want to lead.
The question Atkins was answering, according to Lyons, was “about whether a gender-change procedure that is supposed to turn Steve Stanton into Susan Stanton could also affect his chances at landing the Sarasota job.â€
Stanton is an uncomfortable topic. Many Sarasotans are uncomfortable and unfamiliar with transsexuals, and in a position like city manager, which relies so heavily personal relationships, asking whether Stanton’s surgery will affect his ability to do the job is a fair question.
But our leaders aren’t interested in exercising leadership. Leaders would raise that topic — name the concerned conversations that people are having about Stanton behind closed doors— and push the city to work through its nervousness and give a deserving candidate a chance.
Instead, our commissioners are too worried about saying the wrong thing to say the right thing. That’s the news on the Atkins quote — he was so quick to jump on the reporter not because he’s a big meany; he saw a chance to make sure everyone knew that he wasn’t uncomfortable with Steve becoming Susan, the same cheap reasoning behind Lyons’ column.
That’s playing defense. We should want our elected officials to play offense — not to offend, but to lead the conversations that will make Sarasota a better city. Atkins could have said “You know, I think a lot of people are worried about that. And it’s our job to hear them out, then explain why we think it’s important that Sarasota is a place that welcomes people like Steve Stanton.â€
But he dodged. Because for Atkins, the risk of being pegged as anything but politically correct is too high, even if the reward is a more informed, more engaged, more honest Sarasota.
As for Lyons, well, he’s content to use his prominence to whine about people being “snotty†and defending his paper against quasi-accusations that nobody outside of the HT newsroom ever took seriously.
Even without a big fuzzy blanket from the mayor, if “cozy” is what Lyons wants, I’d say he’s found it.
April 25th, 2007 at 7:14 am
i really like this post. i think it’s a pretty accurate assessment of how this issue has been discussed, especially publically. and i love how a columnist would run with this angle (this commissioner misimplied the reasoning behind the question and he’s a jerk to us anyway!) and perpetuate this idea that the press never “implied any objection to Stanton’s being the gender he wants to be.” While this might be factually true, we’re not seeing stories about the other applicants and what gender they may or may not be. Obviously the HT is making an issue of Stanton’s upcoming gender change; while not objecting to it explicitly, what is one supposed to come away with from reading these stories–that some people find it objectionable (though not the people of Sarasota, we’re far too open-minded for that).
but i agree, there are issues surrounding this subject, and lord do i wish we lived in a time where any person, regardless of race, ethnicity, orientation or gender preference, could apply without worrying about these sorts of things. unfortunately, we don’t and thus we have a civic obligation to discuss them. because, let’s face it, the city manager is a pretty important position in our city government, and we should have lengthy discussion (or, rather, our elected representatives should) about what we want this person (whoever that may be) to do and how we want them to do it.
unfortunately, i don’t have high hopes for this happening, re: both Stanton and the future city manager. i hate to think that if Stanton were to be seriously considered for this position (as in one of the semi-finalists selected) we would see displays like those that occurred in Largo, but i’m not convinced that it wouldn’t happen. and i have serious doubts that our commissioners would seriously make an effort to dissuade this sentiment. though, like you suggest, if some of them were to lead this discussion now perhaps that would be avoidable.
thanks for the perspective and sorry for being so parenthetical.