After hot-mic embarrassment, two Sedgwick County leaders issue a refreshing mea culpa
Last week several Sedgwick County Commissioners were caught on microphones — but off-camera — joking about COVID-19 relief funding and loquacious colleagues.
On Saturday, Commissioner Lacey Cruse, who wasn’t in the room during the off-camera discussion, issued an apology for her role in “fanning the flame” of the brouhaha on social media.
She and Commission Chairman Pete Meitzner also posted a letter on the county’s website apologizing for recent behavior and pledging to “engage in respectful and meaningful discussions” in the future.
“Please accept my sincere apologies for the role that I played in fanning the flame and creating a place where people could be angry, because that is not what I need to be doing,” Cruse said in a video posted to her personal Facebook page.
“This time that we find ourselves in right now is . . . absolutely bringing out the worst in people. I mean, it brings out the worst in me sometimes.”
Last week’s hot-mic incident certainly didn’t reflect well on the commissioners involved — including Cruse, who was late to the meeting and criticized colleagues on Facebook afterward. She has since deleted that post.
But the mea culpa issued by Meitzner, a Republican, and Cruse, a Democrat, illustrates that leaders can put politics aside and refocus on what’s important. Right now, that means handling one of the worst public health crises in recent history and the decimated economy it will leave in its wake.
“We promise to listen more, do our due diligence and find ways to show you — through our actions and words — that we deserve the trust you’ve given us when you elected us,” the letter says.
The letter is signed only by Meitzner and Cruse, not the commission as a whole.
“The other commissioners were made aware before it was public . . . out of respect from me to them,” Meitzner said in an email.
Commissioner Michael O’Donnell, who said last week that he wouldn’t and didn’t need to apologize for lighthearted moments with colleagues, said Meitzner and Cruse were “speaking for themselves” with the letter, and he declined to comment further.
So that’s awkward.
Nonetheless, Meitzner and Cruse should be commended for addressing the incident, responding with humility and grace, and pressing onward toward important matters.
This story was originally published May 12, 2020 at 11:04 AM.
