They prove us all wrong. Now they are in a pissing match about ‘Letterhead’. Yup, you heard right, they are griping about the use of a piece of paper;
Four commissioners complained to Chairman John Pekas he should not have used commission letterhead to write to Circuit Court Judge Bradley Zell. Commissioners say the letter undercut their own request to Zell that Gourley receive a prison term when he sentences her Monday.
Yeah, John! What do you think? That you are county commissioner or something? Wait?
Commissioner Anne Hajek noted that she and Pekas are lawyers, and she is a member of the state bar association ethics committee. It’s that committee’s position, she said, “when you use letterhead, you’re speaking for the whole organization.”
But Anne, this isn’t the SD Bar Association, it is the chickenshit county commission. You know, there is a difference. One is a club the other is an elected position. There is a HUGE difference. Though I don’t think much of Pekas, I do back him on this one. As a county commissioner he has the right to use CC letterhead, get over it.
Pekas told fellow commissioners Tuesday that while Gourley has pleaded guilty to embezzlement, an investigation is ongoing and more information about the case might be forthcoming. He reiterated that under those conditions he would not presume to tell the judge he should sentence Gourley to prison.
I am kind of on the fence about this. On one hand, she is a crook, and should sit in a cell, but on the other hand, as John points out, there is probably more people involved, how couldn’t there be? Secondly instead Gourley costing us more money by putting her in jail, I suggest 10 years of house arrest with work release. And I suggest that we garnish 75% of her wages until she has paid us back. Let the family that enabled her to commit this crime by pretending they didn’t know where the money was coming from figure out how she is going to eat.