Soldiers of World War II had a term for petty antics of leadership. It was referred to as “chicken excrement” with the last word rhyming with “sit.”

It’s probably why, in part, the Boyle County judge-executive (a retired general) is willing to extricate the county from Parks and Recreation and Millennium Park, because when you mess with “chicken sit” you eventually get some on your fingers, thus the county is willing to hand over ownership for the right price.

However, the county must be careful not to confuse price with cost, because although the price might seem right, the actual cost for doing business with the city might be a price too high to pay. Especially with the patterns some in city leadership have provided. There’s no problem with the city wanting control, the problem is the unprofessional and petty games they play to get it.

To name a few:

• Going behind the county’s back to purchase property after a former county magistrate gave the city a heads up on availability. What could have been victory and unity of community was corrupted for control.

• City manager requiring Parks and Recreation director to jump through petty financial reporting hoops to force the director to want to retire.

• City manager mentioning possible ethics violations by the Recreation Department and a city commissioner who were willing to stand up to the city manager.

• Commissioner threatening the Parks and Recreation hiring board by saying “if we squeeze their budget their mind and heart will soon follow.” A sarcastic reference to genitals?

• Commissioner sitting in on the Parks and Recreation adhoc committee constantly chiming in when not permitted. When brought to attention this commissioner wrote an unprofessional rambling letter demanding the law, not understanding that’s what the chairman had just read at the meeting.

• Paying thousands of taxpayer dollars for a study to say what you wanted to hear.

We don’t know what the final agreement will be. However, most problems aren’t money problems but idea problems. And we are all smarter than any one of us. So, here’s an idea. Give ownership to the city, including Constitution Square with protection to county residents that they will never be charged fees to utilize the parks and the county pays nothing for maintenance.  Then those in city leadership who have a control problem can have their drug of choice, and the county can keep their hands clean.

Randy Gip Graham

Danville