Editorial: What happens after Councilman Kevin de León’s apology tour?
Posted by The Editorial Board | Monday, June 29, 2011
In an email to the City Council last month, Kevin de León, who represents District 8, announced that he had no comment on the controversy surrounding his recent use of the official City of West Palm Beach City Directory, a document that contains sensitive information about some members of the community, including his children.
De León was responding to questions about the controversial “Cabarrus Report” – a document that alleged that “illegal aliens” were living in West Palm Beach. Because of the controversy over the report, De León offered his resignation as a councilmember.
The controversy over the report has been largely ignored by most media outlets, including the Sun Sentinel (May 5, 2012). The media mostly used de León’s resignation as a “gotcha” to make the story more sensational and to portray the City of West Palm Beach as an “illegal alien” magnet that is not welcoming to the average citizen.
But what if the scandal turns out to be a “gotcha” after all? Or worse, what if the media reports that de León had been vindicated?
After his resignation, de León released the Cabarrus Report and the City Council took a look at the Cabarrus Report. Now that the City Council has taken a look at the report, why should the Council not take a look at de León’s apology tour?
The Cabarrus Report, according to the Sun Sentinel, “had a few inaccuracies that are not common for a police report when it comes to people who don’t seem to have a criminal record,” but the report is not unusual for an internal investigation for those on city council.
De León is making a legitimate argument that he is being “targeted” by the media for having used the City directory. If it turns out that