Beware the morality police

RTM members up in arms over the prospect of Howard Stern's producer serving on the town's parks board should stop and think a moment about what they are proposing.

Do they really want some kind of decency litmus test applied to candidates for town office? If Gary Dell'Abate can't help oversee recreation programs because the show he works on sometimes gets raunchy, where would they like the morals clause to stop?

There have been a few unsavory sorts who have served in the RTM over the years. Should everyone in the RTM's expansive ranks be examined to make sure they pass muster with the morality police?

And who will get to set the criteria?

Some have objected to what they consider to be the Stern show's degrading treatment of women. That's up to interpretation. But perhaps other RTM members would like to add offenses to a morals list.

Greenwich has been home to corporations that sold hard liquor and tobacco to millions. Should their employees have been barred from Greenwich boards? Their products are a heck of a lot more destructive to society than any question Howard Stern can ask a porn star.

Greenwich is currently home to many who work in banking and finance. Should a person from that world be asked whether he ever pushed a mortgage onto someone who couldn't afford it? Whether she ever passed the risk of bad mortgages off onto unsuspecting investors?

By many accounts, Mr. Dell'Abate has been a popular youth sports coach for many years and active in various fund-raising activities in town. He's now offering to volunteer even more of his time and talents. RTM members should thank him, accept his nomination and get on with it.

And not so incidentally: Last week, in an editorial condemning the Stern fan who placed a bag of feces in an RTM member's mailbox, we praised the member for the classy way in which she handled the incident. If we had known she would then cart the bag, and contents, to meetings at Town Hall, "classy" is not exactly the word we would have used.