To the Editor,
Here is another review of some more of the words spewed by the republican recalcitrant caucus members at the April 14th Legislative meeting in response to a motion on the floor, requesting the resignation of DSS commissioner Alvord.
One Republican Caucus member said: “This is scapegoating”
Scapegoating, is defined as “a person who is blamed for the wrongdoings, mistakes, or faults of others, especially for reasons of expediency”.
No, this is not scapegoating, this is called accountability.
Accountability: The fact or condition of being held accountable, Responsibility. Example: Lack of accountability has corroded public respect. No scapegoating here. Accountability is required.
No expediency here. (The report was published on November 9, 2021, six months after Jordan Brooks died) When you accept the leadership role of a department you accept being held accountable for actions or inactions of your subordinates.
“The buck stops at the top”
The same republican caucus member said “This action would look to decapitate DSS”
Decapitate: attempt to undermine a group or organization by removing its leaders. No undermining here. Accountability is the only “thing that is being asked for” and all we are getting is recalcitrant attitude from the Republican Caucus. The same republican caucus member said, “This is mob mentality”.
Mob mentality: also called herd or hive mentality-is the inclination that some humans must be part of a large group, often neglecting their individual feelings in the process, and adopting the behaviors and actions of the people around them.
The only Mob mentality is the republican caucus. They voted party lines to refuse the much needed and Cornell report recommendations of 39 case workers in the 2020 budget. Only allowing the department to have 35 case workers. Over half of the sitting republican legislators voted NO on the request for 4 case workers in the 2020 budget. Now one of them calls the public outcry and a motion by the Democratic caucus on the floor for the resignation of the head of a department “Mob mentality”.
The signing of a petition by a group of individuals demanding the resignation of the head of DSS is by no means “Mob mentality”.
The same Legislator called the motion calling for the Resignation of Commissioner Alvord “Ridiculous”.
Ridiculous: extremely silly or unreasonable. There is nothing silly about the death of a child. There is nothing unreasonable about asking for the person in charge of the department charged with looking out for the welfare of that child being asked to resign.
“The buck stops at the top.”
The same Legislator said this motion is “Absurd” as well as “Ridiculous” Absurd: wildly unreasonable, illogical, or inappropriate. Asking for Accountability is a long way from “Absurd” it is what the people want.
“The buck stops at the top”
Legislator and Minority Leader Frank Castiglia Jr.
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The words that were spoken on the floor that night, scapegoating, accountability, mob mentality, ridiculous, and calling for the Commissioners resignation “would look to decapitate DSS” are all words that describes how DSS deals with families. They take no accountability for their underhanded ways, they gain up on families, like a mob, and intimidate them using their “power” to make threats of taking their children, the lies they tell are ridiculous and sadly everyone believes them, they take pride in “decapitating” families by taking their children. The Commissioner is well aware of what goes on within DSS, I have personally written multiple letters to her just to be ignored. Call it scapegoating, or accountability for her not addresses these issues sooner, either way, calling for her resignation IS called for.