Letter to the editor - Dec. 17

We are responsible for ensuring our guards held accountable

The phrase “Who will guard the guards” is attributed to Roman Satirist Juvenal, World Heritage Encyclopedia says. It is often used as a warning about the tyrannical tendencies of concentrated power to oppress and control others.

According to Wikipedia this phrase is “generally used to consider incorporating the philosophical question of how power can be held accountable.”

How are we to hold our elected officials and city manager responsible for their duties if there is no communication or accountability?

When the city manager is allowed by the City Council to impose restrictions and penalties on the people with no regard to the laws and policies in place without question or vote, “who will guard the guards?”

When citizens address the Council in public meetings and in email and they are ignored, when the city manager thinks to rewrite the policies and rules adopted by the Council through resolution using press releases instead of through the people’s duly elected City Council during an “open” public meeting, “who will guard the guards?”

When state law requires transparency for meetings and public documents and those laws are ignored, “who will guard the guards?”

The more we allow this behavior by not getting involved or letting the other guy do it, the more we don’t show up to Council meetings, the more we don’t show up to vote, the more we are responsible for the distrust we have in our government.

Ultimately, we are charged to guard the guards, through the First Amendment of the Constitution, through free speech, freedom of the press, and the right to petition our government for redress of grievances.

All we ask is that they do their job correctly and be accountable, answer questions from citizens to promote transparency, and to be fair and honest.

We will guard the guards.

Thomas DeWitt

Portales