Letter: Supervisor owes apology to golf board

On Sept. 21, I spent several hours in attendance at the Carson City supervisors meeting. I was there in my position as a volunteer member of the board of directors of the Carson City Municipal Golf Corp. This corporation was formed by the city supervisors because the city owned golf courses were becoming a losing proposition for the city.

It was the consensus that by eliminating expensive city workers, the city could maintain a viable property and avoid most criticism as far as responsibility for the operation of those golf courses. Although convenient to refer to the directors of the courses as "The Corporation," those people are eight citizen volunteers who spend many hours of their personal time to try to ensure that the golfers of Carson City have a decent municipal facility to pursue their chosen sport.

Throughout this city there are many people who volunteer their time and energies in various areas of commitment. I am sure that the city fathers are grateful for their time and efforts. I am also sure that those dedicated people are treated accordingly when they appear before their elected officials to report on projects to which they have donated their time and energies.

On Thursday, the elected supervisors, in an open meeting, were given a report on the current financial and physical conditions at the city-owned Eagle Valley Golf courses. The person who made the presentation was Mark Sattler, who is the chairman of the board and who is a volunteer. As chairman, Mr. Sattler represents seven other board members who are also volunteers. Those volunteers have spent many hours in meeting after meeting to arrive at the conclusions which Mr. Sattler presented to the board of supervisors. During his presentation, he identified an error in the material which had been forwarded to the supervisors prior to the meeting.

Supervisor Pete Livermore told Mr. Sattler that he did not trust him and was so obviously hostile toward him to the point that I personally felt embarrassed and defensive. Although I am writing this letter as an individual and not as a board member of CCMGC, I strongly feel that Pete Livermore not only owes Mr. Sattler an apology for his rude behavior, but also every other member of the golf board.

Mr. Sattler's presentation was authorized by those same people. In other words, "Don't kill the messenger!" By abusing him, I feel Livermore was also speaking to me in a demeaning manner. This is not the first instance of my history of volunteering on behalf of this city. That began when then-mayor Jim Robertson appointed me to the original Golf Study Committee in the '60s. During my entire tenure, I have never heard such rudeness as Livermore exhibited to those who have attempted to improve life in this city.

GERRI MURPHY

Carson City