Copyright 2003 Lancaster Newspapers, Inc.
INTELLIGENCER JOURNAL (LANCASTER, PA.)
July 15, 2003, Tuesday

SECTION: EDITORIAL, Pg. A-11, LETTERS
LENGTH: 314 words
HEADLINE: Raising questions about who should serve
BODY:
TO THE EDITOR:

Thank you for allowing me to respond to the letter concerning Millersville councilman Jack Gardner and his 32-year-old sexual-assault crime. The letter writer expressed concerns that the crime and consequences of that crime should be over and that for me to bring it up now was "stunningly callous and mean-spirited."

I take exception to the letter's reasoning.

While I am an advocate of restorative justice, a convicted child molester should not be holding public office. Both common sense and the Pennsylvania Constitution says that someone who has committed an "infamous crime" is disqualified (Article 2 Section 7). I am not picking on Gardner as a general citizen -- which would be wrong. I am directing my indignation at Gardner, the public official, who should not hold an elected or appointed office. This law makes a lot of sense. For instance, is it right that an ex-con has authority over police?

Second, have you tried to imagine how the victims, who were 12 and 13 years of age at the time, must be feeling when he is holding a public position of honor and respect? The few months that Gardner spent in jail cannot erase the lifetime of defilement those girls experience, and, therefore, Gardner must accept the lifetime of consequences for those actions committed long ago. At the meeting in question, Gardner did not express any remorse or regret for his crimes.

Instead, Gardner jokingly thanked me when he should have hung his head in shame!

Thirdly, the Intelligencer Journal article was the first time a newspaper printed the fact that Gardner, a convicted sex criminal, was also a member of borough council. The sad part about this is that the Republican Party knew of Gardner's crimes when they helped him get into office!

I believe the letter writer's outrage is misdirected.

Ron Harper Jr., Stevens

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