I don't think we've learned anything substantial beyond the loss of John
Fenton.
When the news broke, there were any number of accounts, and any number
of theories. In the first place, _did _Fenton have his crew do anything
for the Knox campaign that day? I've heard tales that the kid who'd
_claimed_ this had rescinded his claim, and Jannie Blackwell called it a
lie, but I ain't heard any solid answers on this.
And _if_ it happened, then why? Well, it doesn't seem likely that Fenton
or UCD are closet Knox supporters, and I recall Lewis Wendell getting
flak for something involving Michael Nutter a few months back. It seems
far _more_ plausible, to me, that someone under Knox or Blackwell
might've asked John for some effort, and John may have agreed merely to
be a decent guy. After all, it was a community event... and nobody who
wants good relations with the community wants to piss off the local City
Councilperson. If _that_ was the case, then both Fenton and UCD were put
in a bad position. (I am not surprised that the people complaining about
UCD haven't pursued this alternate theory.)
If this did come down to an error in judgment on John's part... then
firing him is a severe black mark against UCD. The guy does a great job.
He's probably the one asset UCD has that's universally praised around
here. (And yes, I suspect many UCD 'critics' are privately ecstatic that
Fenton's gone; makes their hobby even easier.) So, UCD: what's wrong
with agreeing that he'd made a mistake, and letting him get back to his
excellent work a bit wiser?
So UCD followed institutional procedure; whether or not Fenton did
anything wrong, it _could_ become a problem for UCD, so Fenton had to
go. It's safer that way. But it makes UCD look pretty bad. We like to
think of a community as something that's a bit more, well,
understanding. Look at the petition that waas organzied in support of
John Fenton. Decent community managers would have considered that, or
addressed it. Who wants a community managed like a corporate culture?
(Of course, all of the above is _moot_ if it turned out that Fenton
really _did_ abuse his authority to support Knox, screaming "Yes! I did
it! I loved doing it! And I'd do it again! Muhahahaha!" at his
interrogators during the investigation.)
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