You can be right but handle it wrong

When Irish author Brendan Behan made his famous statement that “there is no such thing as bad publicity, except your own obituary,” he probably hadn’t considered Wasilla Area Seniors Inc.

That the senior services provider has had its fair share of not-so-cheery publicity of late would be an understatement. Following months of feuding with members over numerous issues, WASI seemed to be righting its ship. It appeared that the board of directors and executive director, Sondra Kaplan, were working hard to repair those rifts.

That’s why we were dismayed to learn that the Wasilla Police Department had to respond Monday and ultimately had to oust a wheelchair-bound member who was trying to eat her lunch.

Although WASI member Noel Halvorson has been a vocal critic of WASI and Kaplan, it’s an embarrassment to our whole community that what should have been a civil and professional disagreement in the center’s cafeteria ended with 911 call.

Halvorson’s misstep? She attached a “Woodruff for Mayor” sign to the back of her wheelchair. Wasilla City Councilwoman Dianne Woodruff is a candidate for mayor and has been a vocal critic of WASI and Kaplan.

Kaplan told Halvorson the sign violated the nonprofit’s policy about campaigning on the center’s grounds and that she had to remove it.

But because the policy only addresses activities related to passing out campaign material or leaving political literature at the front desk or on the bulletin boards, Halvorson contended that day that she was not violating the policy.

“I wasn’t doing any sort of active campaigning or trying to get anyone to vote a certain way,” Halvorson said.

Well, to be fair, placing a “Woodruff for Mayor” sign on the back of her wheelchair is a campaign message and it does urge people to vote a particular way.

But we see Halvorson’s point, too. Simply displaying the sign on her wheelchair is different from printing up flyers or having candidates distributing pamphlets on the WASI campus.

If a visitor to the center had a “Woodruff for Mayor” bumper sticker on his or her car, would that person also be asked not to park in the center’s lot?

As the women verbally tussled over the sign, the police were eventually called, causing even more of a scene. In the end, Halvorson was forced to leave and told not to come back for a week. Because the center is private property, anyone — even WASI members — can be asked to leave.

What this boils down to is another black eye for an already bruised and — until Monday — recovering organization that provides a vital and valuable service for our community. That police were called for the second time in the last few months to oust people deemed “trespassing” isn’t good publicity in any sense. A few months ago, a Frontiersman editor was physically assaulted by Kaplan when she didn’t want the newspaper taking photos at a WASI board meeting, which are public meetings.

Since that time, the group’s board has made strides to refocus attention on the good work and services WASI provides.

We have no doubt Halvorson, at least in part, posted the sign to antagonize Kaplan and that her intentions were more than simply to eat lunch.

It is possible to be absolutely right and handle the situation absolutely wrong. We believe this is such a case. Whether or not the sign in question violated the center’s policy matters less than whether the executive director’s personality is a good fit to work at a senior center. This is the second time police have been called to respond because of the tactics Kaplan and WASI staff employ to handle what seem to be situations that should be able to be peacefully resolved without the police.