Posted by
Pscyclone on Monday, March 26, 2007 3:38:08 PM
For fourteen years, Steve Stanton has been the City Manager of Largo, Florida. For those not wanting to do the research, Largo is a small city of around 75,000 people to the west of Tampa, Florida. During those fourteen years, Stanton has earned a reputation for being unwavering in his personnel decisions; you serve at his behest and if you have anything -- anything -- that trumps his beck and call, you're out. Some examples; he fired a city employee for staying with his elderly mother during Hurricane Charley; he fired the city's risk manager after a disagreement over the method to assess property values. Not listed in the linked article is the common knowledge that a current and prior female on the City Council would not meet with Stanton alone.
Here's a kicker; he's fired city employees with medical issues. Now, if you are afflicted with cancer, did you have a choice in the matter? How about the ulcer; diverticulitis; carpal tunnel; or heart disease? No one chooses these afflictions; they happen as part of living life. Stanton is expecting the City Council and citizens of Largo to afford him leeway for a medical issue he has full control over; he is choosing to become a woman. Recently, a church in Largo had a Pastor with a similar situational ethics problem. The result was the church folded and its property taken over by a different church. Any time a leader chooses to hold the line on a given standard, he or she should stick to that standard lest the ability to lead be lost and the people he or she leads fall.
It appears Stanton has caught doublespeakitis, a bug known to afflict those people of a liberal slant ("If elected, we will support our troops in Iraq!") or those too egocentric to do what's right. Unfortunately, there is no cure except to return to civilian life where the bug affects only those you "love." Stanton's doublespeakitis showed itself again when he said he couldn't sue Largo because it'd be like "suing his mother" only to say, now that things have not gone his way, that he hasn't ruled out a lawsuit. If he cared 1/100th as much about Largo as he claims, there would be no story here; I'll expound on that in a moment.
"Largo's been a passion. One does not just replace one's passion," Stanton says in an attempt to explain why he didn't leave the office to become a woman in private. Oh, he may have a "passion", all right, but it is certainly not for the City of Largo or its citizens. I would suggest Stanton's refusal to leave his post and conduct this affair in private has nothing to do with passion for the City and everything to do with passion for himself; a double-standard, vain, selfish, and greedy "passion." If he really cared for Largo - and I mean really cared - Largo, and the world, would not be subject to these four ugly traits of malfeasance.
I've already discussed my thoughts on his double-standard. "Do as I say and not as I do" has never been a good slogan for any leader of any era. We call these types of leaders "dictators."
It is vanity for Stanton to believe that this deeply personal choice and process could be played out on the public stage without issue. The physical and emotional changes wrought during this process bring disruption and discomfort to the office and has no place in the public arena. Only the most craven person would believe that he or she could do something like this and still hold a leadership position, especially when that person has a history of quickly firing people for all manner of offenses that have nothing to do with the violation of trust.
In reality, this is a breach of trust, a violation, of which most are already aware. Largo relies on the City Manager for all manner of work that relates to public services, safety, and growth. For fourteen years, despite the rumblings and evidence to the contrary, the City Commission, and Largo's residents by proxy, have opted to put their trust in Stanton's abilities. Enter this very personal and (more appropriately) private choice to transgender. How can he bungle something such as this - something so important to him and his family as this issue? If he can't manage the affairs in his own house, how can Largo expect him to manage its affairs, for which there is only "passion," with any competence? When spending someone else's money on third party, there's a requirement for real ability, integrity, and trust. Stanton has shown he has none of these if the debacle over the last month is any indication.
Of the selfishness, I'll only suggest we think for a moment about Stanton's teen-aged son. Remember your teens when every little issue seemed huge and every huge issue was gargantuan? Were Stanton not so selfish and was man enough to be a Dad, he would not have subjected his son to the media frenzy - or schoolyard politics - for these choices.
And finally, we come to one of the ugliest of green-eyed monsters; greed. Stanton recently received a pay raise that grosses him $140,000 per year, not including benefits. Average pay in Largo, Florida is $46,925. $140k is a lot of money to give up -- money that provides a very comfortable lifestyle and the funds to undergo his transgendering. At nearly three times the average wage in Largo, I cannot help but wonder if somewhere in the pit of his wallet, Stanton refused to return to civilian life because he could not (and I suppose, would not) give up the pay. We call this greed, class. The "passion" Stanton was extolling, I think, had little to do with Largo, and a lot to do with himself.
It's time for Stanton to move on. He's been fired from his post as City Manager in Largo and now he's free to pursue whatever strikes his fancy without disrupting the City's business. Without all those meddlesome citizens around who want someone they can look up to, follow -- who they can trust -- Stanton can become a woman in the privacy of his own home, which is where this should have been done in the first place. After the transition is complete, he can emerge from his cocoon to become City Manager somewhere else. I would encourage Stanton to avail himself of the opportunity Largo has granted him.