Looming State Government Media Debacles
The Exxon-Alaskan oil spill taught Corporate America that
ignoring hazardous incidents will cost millions of dollars.
It further pointed out that a single foolhardy incident can decimate a
corporation's hard earned goodwill image.
State government also spends millions of dollars each year
to foster their goodwill image. They
are interested in garnering the tourist trade and attracting new industries to
their state. Yet state governments
may not be paying attention to potential media debacles in their backyards.
I will use the January 1989 cases of Charles King of
Richmond, VA to highlight state governments' indifference to looming media
crises. King got two traffic tickets
at one time in the State of Delaware, one for not heeding a stop sign and
another for not having proof of insurance on his vehicle.
King protested his ill-treatment on one of these tickets in
a January 23 letter to Lieutenant B. Johnson of the New Castle County Police.
"... (The officer) requested proof of insurance for my vehicle.
I replied that the State of Virginia, where I reside, does not require
that I carry proof, and the vehicle registration which I produced for him showed
that my car was registered in Virginia."
"He insisted that I needed to show proof, and remarked he
was empowered to escort me to the station...." claims King.
"At this point I objected more strongly, and was duly rewarded with a
second ticket, No. 14996, which required me to appear at Court 10 on January 21
to show proof of insurance or pay a fine of $181."
"When I appeared on that date," King writes, "Judge Lucas
immediately dismissed the case, stating that (the officer's) charge could not
apply to an out-of-state resident."
I learned of King's problem during a June business dinner
in Virginia Beach, VA. He was
perturbed because he had been treated unfairly.
I could not image all of his contentions were true until I finished his
letter and looked at a photocopy of the ticket attached to it.
King was required to appear at 9:00 a.m. on a Saturday only
to find out that the Court did not open until noon.
He was floored when the court could not find a copy of his ticket and
they had to act on his copy.
On February 14, Major Edward R. McGinty, Acting Chief of
Police for New Castle County responded to King's letter:
"....Following receipt of your letter, (the officer) has
received counseling relative to the differences between resident and
non-resident status, as it relates to certain Delaware laws.
"On behalf of the entire Division of Police, New Castle
County Department of Public Safety, please accept our sincere apology for any
inconvenience caused as a result of your being cited for the insurance
violation."
But McGinty's letter did not address King's request for
104.06 dollars that he lost in hotel fees and dinner to stay an extra day in
Delaware to go to court. He has made
several futile attempts to recover this money.
He even consulted a Delaware attorney only to learn it would cost over
500 dollars to recover his 104 dollars.
King presently harbors bitter feelings for the state of
Delaware. He has shared his incident
with many friends and family members.
Over the longterm, his bitterness will seriously impact Delaware's
tourist trade.
King is an Asian-American in his sixties.
He is presently a research scientist for a multinational corporation.
Heaven forbid that King gets national or international television
exposure and this foolhardy ticket incident resurfaces.
As a Delawarean, I urge Governor Michael Castle to reimburse King his 104
dollars. I trust this reimbursement
will let King accept that a young officer made a mistake and his career should
not be crucified.
I wonder how many other states are burying comparable
looming media debacles.
