For what it's worth
Marion City Council, city employees, and the community have been through the wringer. Or at least it sure feels like it.
Words have been spoken that cannot be taken back. The community has been divided over a lose-lose situation. Trusts have been broken. Taxpayers are let down.
Following Monday's meeting, tears were shed — some for joy, most in sadness. It's difficult to watch the dismantling of a community.
There are no winners in this deal because the community has lost. It's not about allowing a person to stay in a job but about losing faith in a town.
Only time will tell if the council made the best decision for the future of this community and did not just take another easy way out.
It will take a long time for Marion to heal. Let's just hope it can survive.
If Marion isn't careful, we could end up being like neighboring communities — barely hanging on by a thread with maybe a grocery store, convenience store, and a restaurant or two. And what will be important? That an administrator was saved but a community sacrificed?
What happened to the majority rules? Once again, the minority has spoken, leaders have listened, and the will of the majority has gone ignored.
Here are the lessons I've learned through all of this.
The good guys don't always win, power and money almost always win at the end of the day, and bullies still rule the playground.
— SUSAN BERG
