LEGION: Setting the record straight

First, I would like to say that I have had a wonderful relationship with many of the members of American Legion Post 14 for more than a decade, and it has been my privilege to serve Post 14, the Women's Auxiliary and The Sons. I do speak with Dusty Rhodes, Post Adjutant, on a weekly basis these days, and I think we have a good working relationship.

And that's why I'm writing this letter to the editor. On Jan. 18, in a front page article entitled "Cd'A: Legion left out of McEuen planning," staff writer Tom Hasslinger's reporting of the meeting between Post 14 and the mayor seemed to over-emphasize the miscommunication between the Steering Committee, the American Legion Baseball Board and American Legion Post 14, and in the process inadvertently "threw" one of our American Legion Baseball Board members "under the bus implying that he was responsible for the lack of communication with the Legionnaires. Dennis Spencer is a volunteer who has donated countless hours to our community program. It was not his responsibility; it was mine.

I applaud Mayor Bloem graciously stating that she was "taking all the blame" for not including the Post after she learned of our hierarchy. However, because of the article's emphasis, it was easy for the reader to miss the point of Post 14's frustration with the City Council.

But before I do that, let me provide a little context: American Legion Baseball is but one program under American Legion Post 14's umbrella. Our charge is to oversee the American Legion Baseball program. As volunteers we donate our time to this cause. Ultimately, we answer to the Legionnaires of Post 14.

Mr. Rhodes' first point was that selecting one of our baseball board members was not akin to including members from the Post. For Mr. Rhodes it was an issue of respect, for as he pointed out in a letter sent to the City Council "the field lights, scoreboard, dugout, grandstands, storage buildings and the field itself were completed by funds raised by American Legion Post 14." And their labor. Consequently, Mr. Rhodes felt that the city should have approached Post 24 directly. His second and third points had to do with conceptual design proposed by Team McEuen.

Unfortunately, the article does not make this point clear; instead, the writer seemed to fixate on one of our baseball board members and a case of internal miscommunication as the "scoop." Was there? Probably. We're volunteers; we all have day jobs.

American Legion Post 14 and American Legion Baseball have the same goal: to have the City Council dedicate a location (not the high school fields) for a new baseball facility to be part of the planning and budgeting process.

I ask that as this process of deciding the future of McEuen Field moves forward, please understand that the American Legion Baseball Board members have chosen to donate their time and expertise to support American Legion Post 14's goal to educate and instill community values in our youth through sports. And if you feel the need to update your story please add that I take sole responsibility for any miscommunication between American Legion Baseball and Post 14: I apologize to Mr. Spencer for allowing him to be targeted. And I apologize to Post Adjutant Dusty Rhodes for my part in the breach of communication.

JAMIE DUMAN

President

American Legion Baseball