Unskunking the Deal

            Many people are concerned over the decision to select Kearney as the new Veterans’ Home site.  Troubling questions have arisen.  Was the outcome a done deal before the competition began?  Who brought the “shut-up” squad down on Don Shuda and why?  What complaints was he forwarding that posed such a burden?  Are problems addressed with alacrity and enthusiasm by Vets Affairs?  What does the decision to leave Grand Island say about DHHS’s responsibility to its long-term employees and their charges.  The news media have a responsibility here.  Many questions demand investigative journalists’ attention on behalf of Nebraskans and the Veterans who have served our country.

            Kearney may indeed be the best location.  But attempts by highest level bureaucrats, elected and otherwise, to balance past state budgets on the backs of Nebraska’s needy children, have given DHHS an already heavy sack of rocks to carry.  Credibility is an issue.  Add the confusing (at least to the public) meanings of site selection criteria.  Plus the many Nebraskans who feel there are misdeeds afoot.  Consider the appearance of bribery as candidate cities lined up with their millions and their discount coupons!  It’s a recipe for misunderstanding.

            Regardless of the integrity of the site committee, the process has taken on the stink of the fix.  Around here, we think that requires DHHS and the committee to take its tomato juice bath and get rid of the smell.  They would be ill-advised to just ignore it and flee to a nearby city.