Manny being Manny

Echoing what was said in a Sunday editorial about Potter County commissioner Manny Perez and his conduct last week at an Amarillo city commission meeting, Perez needs to know that as long as he's a commissioner, that's the way he will be seen in a public appearance.

Fair or not -- and it's probably fair -- he will be a commissioner first and a private citizen second. That's why his public attack on city manager Alan Taylor at the meeting, which prompted mayor Debra McCartt to intervene in a pointed way, was unseemly.

Imagine the opposite if one of the elected city officials chose a Potter County commissioner's meeting to wrangle Perez? It's not that you can't do that, but you shouldn't do that in a public forum.

If Perez has a beef with the city, air it out in private or in an e-mail. He can claim he was acting as a private citizen when he got into a heated discussion with city officials, but that doesn't wash.

Perception is reality, and the perception is an elected official first, a citizen second. Perez, who controversy has seemed to follow since he was first elected a commissioner 24 years ago, needs to learn that.