ELAINE HARRIS SPEARMAN: Patting themselves on the back for a 'gift' to taxpayers
Let’s just get right to it. The residents of Gadsden are not sheep who need a sheep herder or a smart sheep dog to lead them to pasture — or to the slaughter house.
Civic organizations should restrain their membership from rushing to hand out Good Citizenship Awards. There are no platitudes to be handed out here.
If anyone deserves awards and recognition, it is the people who are doing their jobs on behalf of the residents of Gadsden to give the people an opportunity to earn a decent livable wage.
From what I could see, most people saw through the divide and conquer strategy ultimately employed in the fight against the once-proposed pet food ingredient plant. It was sad to see the attempt to get African Americans on board with that fight using divisive fear tactics to drag out the “NIBY” (not in my back yard) reaction.
The people did not buy that attempted ruse, and it still holds true that the Gadsden community did not request representation by the plaintiffs and/or their attorneys in that fight.
As we read the statement issued by those plaintiffs and attorneys ending lawsuits related to the rendering plant, we are overcome with a gagging reflex as we read that the group is “waiving our claims for attorney’s fees.”
No one believes that anyone in the group should receive attorney’s fees. Those who brought the lawsuit should pay for it, as do others who battle for their own respective issues and causes. The two or three African Americans who joined the cause did not represent the voices of the community. There is lots of conversation about rising costs and stagnant salaries, if there are salaries at all.
Oh, what a patriarchal, paternal gift to the residents of Gadsden! They decided not to ask the taxpayers of Gadsden to bear the cost of legal fees. Oh, happy day! Go get the horses and carriages. Happy day that there is so much caring and concern about Gadsden taxpayers “having already paid out of town lawyers $300,000.” How much have the plaintiffs paid “in town lawyers?” Let’s have a reveal party.
This situation came about because a group of people were dead set on depriving Gadsden's taxpayers of an opportunity to earn a livable wage. Should the city have just rolled over? I think not.
Such smirky, tongue-in-cheek attempts to claim victory in the face of defeat have become commonplace, and typical of those who operate on anything less than merit. It is all too familiar to the public when plaintiffs and their lawyers try their cases in the court of public opinion that now includes social media. It is even more familiar when people are goaded into saying what is not acceptable in a court of law and actually getting others to say it.
The greatest interest in blocking the pet food processing plant rested in the hands of those who possessed the most wealth.
Gadsden's residents should never have been asked to foot the bill. I also believe it is pure self-aggrandizement to claim a lawsuit was filed on behalf of Gadsden and/or Etowah County.
I will say this: Do not be surprised if the real truth is ultimately revealed. One day when employees who have stood by silently ask for a raise in salary, a light bulb will suddenly flicker on. They will realize they are making less than the prevailing wage, while those who prevented the opportunity for others live quite well. Multi-millionaires did not want to hear you ask for more money.
The employees will one day see that the plant was never a threat to them, or their well-being.
There are enough orthopedic surgeons in Gadsden to help with the arms broken from the self-patting on the back for the halting of the rendering plant. One down, how many more to go?
A small group of people cannot simply form an organization and declare themselves as the people who set the agenda for Gadsden or Etowah County.
Gadsden is beautiful and full of promise. Its residents choose to be residents. They did not choose Rainbow City, Glencoe, Boaz or Albertville.
Remember this as voters prepare to elect a new mayor and members of the City Council. We do not need people who are in awe of takeover artists to lead Gadsden into a poor existence or, worse yet, a nonexistence.
Elaine Harris Spearman, Esq., a Gadsden native, is an attorney and is the retired legal advisor to the comptroller of the City of St. Louis. The views reflected are her own.
This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Elaine Spearman looks at end of rendering plant legal fight
