The Gardener and the Locoweed

As Mayor Murray's failures become more embarrassing and her temper tantrums become more numerous, there are questions that are heard more and more among people who are closely connected with the city and even the public in general:

Why doesn't someone just remove her? Can't City Council or the City Solicitor or one of the judges take her out for misfeasance, malfeasance, or nonfeasance? How long do we have to put up with this crazy woman? Why do we have to wait and go through the expense of a recall?

These are all excellent questions. But the answer is not that easy.

So we would like to share a fable that may help to illustrate our City's sad plight.

Once upon a time, a town planted a garden. As the garden grew the townsfolk decided to hire a gardener. The new gardener was stranger in town, but he grew to love the garden. Then, after a few years, some of the townspeople planted a strange new seedling. The gardener didn’t like the look of the scrawny little sprout. Soon it was covered with sharp thorns and sour little berries. He wanted to pluck the weed, before it grew out of control, but he knew if he pulled it too soon the stem would break off and its roots would continue to spread through the garden. Then he might never get it out. Some townspeople began to complain about the thorny little plant. Even the gardener’s wife said, “Husband. We can’t have such a hideous plant in our garden. You are the gardener. You should pull it out now.” Most people said it was poison ivy or a Appalachian fly-trap. Some even said it was a deadly bluegrass stinkweed. Still others said it was a beautiful Kentucky wildflower, which would brighten the whole field if allowed to blossom…but most of these people lived in caves and knew nothing about gardening. But the gardener knew it was a “Lexington locoweed.” Its fruits would be rotten and the terrible smell of its flowers would soon reach even the A-Plant twenty miles away. Folks from all over were already making fun of the garden on the internet. The gardener wanted to remove the weed, but should he? He went to ask the judge of the garden what he should do. And here is the judge said: “You are right, gardener. It is a locoweed. And it will cause a lot of problems for the garden, as it has already. But you must remember that 44 people in the town planted that flower, and the rest of the town stood by and watched. If you pull it up before the whole town sees the damage the weed does, then they will think that you are against them. A wise gardener would wait and let the locoweed grow all though the spring and summer. When the people see how ugly it is, they will uproot it themselves in the fall. And they will never plant one like it again. Or maybe the locoweed will wilt in the heat of the summer, and your job will be done for you.” Perhaps the judge was right, the gardener thought. He even told himself, it will serve the townsfolk right…to have to remove the weed they planted. But he knew that the damage done by the Lexington locoweed would be devastating. The gardener loved the garden, and wanted to protect it. It was his job after all. The gardener knew that if he made the wrong choice…the town would never live “happily ever after.” Readers. What do you think the gardener should do?