At the Tuesday December 2, 2008 meeting of the Wichita City Council, a property owner was present. This man, owner of the Nifty Nut House, a popular store for nuts and treats, was in front of the council when council member Sharon Fearey asked this question:
“Do we all get free nuts or anything?”
(Laughter from the council and audience.)
“Just kidding! You can’t buy our vote!”
It’s troubling to me when elected officials think things like this are funny. Why was she even thinking of this? The Nifty Nut House has great products. I was thinking about them as I sat in the audience at this meeting. But why did council member Sharon Fearey think it would be funny to suggest that the council members get free nuts?
Incidents like this are why citizens have a poor attitude towards government and its officials.
Is not unusual for the City Council elected officials to receive gifts and I understand that they are all receiving a gift box from the Nifty House. The ethics laws of the City are almost non-existence and past efforts for reform have failed.
The rule is: “take as much as you can while you are in office”
The reason this is not funny is because it is the City Council themselves that are the real nuts!