Editor’s note: The following letter is in response to last week’s letter by Arlene Olinsky “Mayor Mattioli’s Actions Were Provoked.”
The question posed is not whether Royal Palm Beach Councilwoman Martha Webster properly or appropriately submitted the names of people for consideration or overstepped her position as liaison, but whether what appeared to many as “bullying tactics” by the current mayor in his uncivil response to pending and suggestive changes in committee personnel.
Civility is the hallmark of any executive, and displays of temper suggest a weak position by anyone using such tactics, bringing into question motives of anyone supporting such a position. The current mayor has, as been pointed out, “over two decades” of government experience. Even though I don’t see his past service as unselfish as the previous writer, I feel he would have been better served by listening to his “better angels” instead of using his position as mayor to publicly humiliate and embarrass a member of his council unnecessarily by overreacting to a voice with a different position.
Clearly, both sides had an agenda and it’s not really clear who among the people being considered would best serve the village. To understand the motives behind supporting the mayor’s indefensible behavior is to understand ambition. It would be still appropriate, even at this late date, to set aside the ego of office and to recognize his behavior as not appropriate for someone holding the position of mayor and apologize to Mrs. Webster for the way he addressed her and simply move on.
Richard Nielsen, Royal Palm Beach
