Intelligence not equal to wisdom

To The Eagle:

When George Wehrfritz ran for mayor of the Town of Cathlamet, I was impressed because I perceived him as being intelligent. After observing his actions and public statements, although I do not know him personally and don't always agree with his positions, I still believe he is intelligent.

Wehrfritz, by his actions and public statements, has taught me many things, the most important of which is that the volunteer fire and emergency medical services are far more important to our town than having a town government. If our community did not have a mayor, a council and a town government, we could still have a fire district, an emergency medical services district and a library district or they could consolidate them with existing districts and/or county services, as the town did with law enforcement.

Mayor Wehrfritz has also taught me that intelligence is not the equivalent of wisdom. Wisdom is most often acquired over time by life experiences, e.g. small-community government involvement. Wisdom, like experience, is not inherited nor instantly learned. For elected public officials, tolerance for those you represent is also mandatory. If you listen to why people disagree with you, you could discover matters you failed to consider or comprehend.

The members of the fire and emergency medical services are volunteers, no paid town employees. No town ordinance, resolution or motion should be adopted attempting to give the town mayor the alleged power to appoint or terminate the fire chief. That should be reserved to the volunteer members who work with and know their membership best.

Given our economy and recent events, the town's priorities should be public rest rooms, adequate public parking, annexation of the areas serviced by the town but not included in the town limits while being charged higher service fees and strict compliance with the Open Public Meetings Act, rather than the micro-management of employees and volunteers, paying for unneeded consultant's fees that exceed the costs of the proposed projects, amphitheaters and additional parks are not needed while we await the mayor acquiring wisdom concerning his position.

George F. Hanigan

Cathlamet