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Tom Jackson:
Tom Jackson is in a 12-step program for recovering sports writers; as part of his rehabilitation, he writes a column centered on the people, politics, passions and peculiarities of Pasco County. Email
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Cathi Martin’s Unhelpful Handwringing
Posted Mar 27, 2009 by Tom Jackson
Updated Mar 27, 2009 at 05:34 PM
It is immaterial to the Jax Files whether Cathi Martin, the elected-official-turned-Hamlette, makes good on her two-week-old pledge to resign. We stand firmly on our two previous positions.
To recap: Martin is the oft-absent school board member who blames uncontrollable personal difficulties for her frequent absences from board business.
Our initial position remains unaltered. If Martin insists on sticking around, good enough. She hangs on as an enduring visual aide, tangible proof of what can happen when, despite abundant evidence of an officeholder’s indifference to duty, voters punch the re-elect button. In this respect, at least, Martin’s continuation on the board will be a helpful reminder about why elections – all elections – matter.
Members of Pasco’s state legislative delegation should hush; the political light they’re shining on the situation reflects unflatteringly on themselves.
Our subsequent position also stands: If Martin wants to end the controversy by offering her resignation, she will go some distance toward restoring the honor she’s sacrificed in the service of her ego.
Let us add, now, this: It is frankly difficult to see how Martin could stay on, given the circumstances. She has fatally compromised any hope of being an effective contributor during the balance of her current term. Worse, the lingering uncertainty created by the failure either to make good on her resignation announcement or to repudiate it has allowed the kerfuffle to become even more politicized, if such a thing is possible.
A report in the St. Petersburg Times indicates Martin may be listening to members of the local Democratic Party hierarchy. Hold on, they’re telling her, lest Gov. Crist fill the opening with some GOP up-and-comer. Those advantage-seeking Democrats do the public no favors in the short term and, with the propped-up Martin (and her enablers) as an example to run against in 2010, they do their party no favors over the long haul.
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