Opportunity missed
Gloucester Mayor Carolyn Kirk finally speaks to the media about the explosion of teen pregnancies at Gloucester High, and all she has to offer is cold water on the notion that there was a pregnancy "pact"?
Uh-oh, yet another public servant reacting to a teachable moment with defensive pablum instead of thoughtful advocacy. (Another recent example: the mayor of Hartford, Connecticut pretending his city is on the rebound despite documentary evidence that it's in freefall.)
Mayor Kirk, it doesn't matter if there was a "pact" or not. The socio-cultural restraints that inhibit disastrous behavior like teen out-of-wedlock births are malfunctioning badly in your community -- that's irrefutable. Now is the time to sound the alarm and lay out what you think you need to help fight the problem, not retreat behind foolish public-relations spin.
