As bad as Ebenezer Scrooge was, at least he didn’t fire Bob Cratchit right before Christmas. I can’t say the same for the St. Louis Dept of Health. Animal Control Officer, Keith Gladney was fired on December 23rd, less than 48 hours before Christmas Day.
Regular readers of Big Government will recognize the sur name of this unfortunate soul who finds himself unemployed just as the holidays are upon us. Yes, Keith Gladney is the brother of Kenneth Gladney, the man who was assaulted by leaders of the St. Louis SEIU outside of Rep. Russ Carnahan’s Town Hall for Health Care on August 6, 2009.
Considering the fact that government work seems to be the only growth industry in this economy Keith probably thought he was in a stable job, serving diligently for the Animal Control agency, a division of the St. Louis Dept. of Health. And, considering he was just given a positive job performance rating as recently as October, it must have come as a heartbreaking shock to learn of this Dickensian turn of events just he was preparing for his Christmas.
So, what changed between September and today? What could have been the reason for Mr. Gladney’s termination?
Could it be that Mr. Gladney was outspoken in his support for his brother?
That he called on the County Prosecuting Attorney to bring justice to his family for the assault that had been captured on video and detailed in a 23-page police report?
Is it a coincidence that the same Prosecuting Attorney that Keith called out in his statement is also one of the highest ranking officials in the government structure that Keith worked for?
Is it surprising to learn that the Department of Health (the department that oversees the operations of Keith’s agency) works very closely with SEIU Local 1 on County Health related issues and policies?
And why now? Of all times? If they really wanted to punish Keith for his statements in favor of his brother’s case, why wait until now?
Is it a coincidence that this happens hours after the Senate finally got Pres. Obama’s Health Care Scheme passed through the Senate cloture vote and on its way to final ratification?
Could it be that the power structure in the county was waiting for the cloture vote so as to act from a position of political safety with no potential negative repercussions?
These are questions many of us have been asking each other since we heard this sad and disturbing news. Rest assured that Big Government is gathering much information regarding the stated reasons for Gladney’s termination and the facts involved with his job performance. We plan to answer all of these questions in the coming days.
But, for now. All that matters is that a man is suddenly out of work right before Christmas Day. Please, now more than ever, keep the Gladney family in your prayers and let us all hope that 2010 shows them real justice and, dare I say… hope?