Editor:

When people live long enough in a small community, it breeds the good old boy familiarity that is fine when it’s neighbors helping neighbors. But when it comes to politics, that familiarity becomes misplaced trust at best, unchallenged corruption at worst.

I worked 30 years in political offices. In one of them, a girl who was arguing for her candidate said to me, and I quote, “Well, at least he’s my crook.” Of course, that mind set is scarier than...the hot place.

Bellevue and county taxpayers one year paid $600 apiece for two desk-side wastebaskets. In another instance, enough breast pumps would have been ordered to service new mothers in not just Allegheny County, but several other Western PA counties. An innocent question from me evidently put a stop to that.

For some reason, one year Allegheny County was headed toward providing voting machines for a municipality outside Allegheny County. When I told my superior that that municipality was not in Allegheny County, she screamed at me from across the room, left the office in a
rage and didn’t show up for work the rest of the afternoon and the next day. Had she not so reacted, I would have thought it was a simple error.

At the same job site, one man who knew I was within hearing laughed and stated that, “Everyone knows the county build “xxx’s” house.” The other man in the room laughed in agreement. As a result of corruption, I suffered, if you will, the death of a dear acquaintance. I’ve seen judges and defendants matched up - that is, until I was reassigned to another room. I’ve seen looking the other way provide a new house for the blind eye. The dear crooks need not worry, however, as the statute of limitations is up.

An absentee ballot was found in a car trunk. An unauthorized man took the ballot to the election department. I guess I’m allowed to ask: Did he go by himself? Did he have bi-partisan witnesses accompany him? Did the receiving employee at the election department call the director of that department to witness the opening of the ballot? Our military voter is rightfully livid that his vote was invalidated. How many “car trunks” do was have in this county, state, America? We need to care. But what the hey “it’s not my car trunk.” What with worrying about Gitmo, Russia being so close to Sarah Palin’s house, and Somalians boarding every ship in sight, where’s my ice pack and couch when I need them?

Virginia Miranda
Bellevue