Many years ago I asked my parents why I couldn’t begin dating at 15. My justification was “everyone else is doing it.”

I remember my mother asking me “If everyone else was lining up to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge, would you join them and jump too?”

I was reminded of this long ago conversation after reading a Feb. 1, 2012, article about the Ethics Complaint that has been filed against Public Service president candidate Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh for using taxpayer funds to send certificates of congratulations to over 500 public servants who have no relationship whatsoever with the Public Service Commission.

Cavanaugh’s response was that the person filing the complaint was wasting state money by trying to get the State Ethics Commission to investigate “because many state officials send certificates of appreciation at state expense.”

Nowhere in the article does Cavanaugh state that the certificates are for actions that enhance the mission of the Public Service Commission.

Instead the certificate that I have seen is congratulating a person on her appointment as a member of a board of registrars in a north Alabama county.

What connection does the Public Service Commission have with the Boards of Registrars?  I thought the Boards of Registrars falls under the guidance and supervision of the Secretary of State.

I wouldn’t have expected such a cavalier and insolent response from someone that boasts publicly of guarding the taxpayer’s pocketbook.

Judi Jay

Slocomb