WHEN YOU CRITICIZE, YOU CAN'T TURN AROUND AND DO THE SAME THING

Early last year, the Polk County Opportunity Council's then-Executive Director Carolyn Speed took a free trip to Las Vegas at the expense of copy machine supplier Canon, an incident that brought forth strong criticism by Congressman Adam H. Putnam (R - Bartow). While other allegations of wrongdoing and incompetence were rightly brought by Putnam, the Las Vegas trip --- for which Speed eventually resigned under pressure by the PCOC board --- was the primary focus of his ire.

Today, the Tampa Tribune reports that only four months after Putnam's harsh remarks over Ms. Speed's all-expenses-paid trip, he and wife Melissa were treated to a three day visit to Big Cedar Lodge, a resort in the Missouri Ozarks near Branson owned by the sporting goods chain Bass Pro Shops. The nearly $4,400 bill to attend the annual meeting of the Congressional Sportsman's Foundation --- much of which was for transport via private plane --- was footed by the organization, a hunting and fishing rights advocacy and lobbying group.

Ms. Speed's actions in the PCOC case were clearly improper. This post is not condoning such action, but if one is going to criticize for doing something like this, then it is simply hypocritical for Putnam to enjoy what one could say was a three day vacation in the Ozarks with his wife. One should remember to avoid even the appearance of improper conduct.