LETTER: Documents tell whole story of Albert-Oakland Park

I write in response to George Kennedy’s Columbia Missourian Opinion piece of Sept. 4-5. He notes that he spent two hours in our home and then gives a Freudian diagnosis that my husband is “obsessed.” Mr. Kennedy does not explain what should be the proper family response to the removal of the Albert name from a park that was the largest donation of park land in the 138-year history of Columbia at that time. He does not tell the reader the whole story of the documents presented to him. For example, Ray Beck’s e-mail ordering staff to change the name, or the inner office memo justifying his actions, or Resolution 24-72 and *Ordinance 47-72, both passed unanimously in 1972 stating, ”Columbia, Missouri is developing a public park facility to be known as the Albert-Oakland Park.” Ironically, Albert-Oakland Park is the only park in the history of the city to be named by both resolution and ordinance.

With great effort and the good work of council members, the name and history were restored. The name “Albert-Oakland Park” was put back on signs, maps, fliers and the Web site. The dedication plaque for the Albert-Oakland Municipal Pool was recast and placed back on the building.

We have been working on the ordinance to make it a misdemeanor for staff to make false statements or deliver false documents in the council chambers. **All power of this process would be given to the council. We support truth in government. Honesty costs nothing. We are only the most recent victims of this sad, immoral practice. Three examples were documented and given to Mr. Kennedy. Why would anyone oppose the truth? What harm would truth in government do? We ask that he post online, in chronological order, the documents he was given for all to see. Truth in journalism costs nothing in cyberspace. Let the documents speak for themselves. Let the readers decide.