Curmudgeon's Corner

Disturbing News Article...

Posted by Al Campbell on April 24, 2008

Germantown, Political, Village Board

Ty Finke wrote an article titled "Village president's campaign finance manager resigns" that appears both on the GermantownNOW site as well as in today's print edition.

The article is disturbing to me on several counts.  It seems to point up a schism between President Kempinski and Trustee Langer.  Mr. Langer was the 'campaign finance manager' referred to in the headline.  He reportedly resigned as the result of changes made to the campaign finance reports that he had helped Mr. Kempinski prepare a year ago.  I presume that one would not retain the services of anyone other than a trusted friend/acquaintance for such a sensitive role.  And such a seemingly abrupt end to the relationship raises questions for me.

We must remember that this is surfacing a short time after the changes in committee assignments made by President Kempinski that cost Trustee Langer his chairmanship of the Public Safety Committee.  Both men claim that one had nothing to do with the other.

We might simply be seeing some of those 'sour grapes' that have been referenced before following the recent election.  We might be seeing something that is symptomatic of deeper divisions between these two elected representatives.

It is disconcerting to think that two people who seemed to share common political positions and goals so closely could have such an apparent 'falling out' as this.  There has been little secret that both were closely aligned.  That suggests one or more of several things:

• Might neither person have ever had such a close affiliation as seemed the case to most observers?
• Might there have been something more that triggered the abrupt end of the campaign finance manager relationship?
• Might we be seeing the tip of some other iceberg?

Maybe we'll learn more as time passes.  Or, maybe this will get buttoned up and we'll learn nothing more.

This is one more in a series of things that raise questions in my mind.  There seems an arrogance permeating the leadership levels of our community that I find troubling.  I have to wonder what comes next as I mentioned a few days ago.