At least he's consistent. That is about all that can be said for Dearborn Mayor Michael Guido, who convinced the Arabic satellite TV news channel al-Jazeera to relocate a town hall-style meeting about Iraq's future.
The news channel had hoped to secure a public venue within the city with the largest U.S. concentration of Arab Americans for its public forum, but Guido says Dearborn authorities didn't want public facilities used for select, limited audiences.
Guido says the decision is not politically motivated. The mayor told Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz the same thing when he wanted to meet with transplanted Iraqis in February.
Al-Jazeera producers in Washington, D.C., say they lobbied for the public venue in hopes to "showcase" Dearborn but will seek a private site. Network officials told The Associated Press they are planning a live broadcast to give Arab Americans - especially Iraqi immigrants - the chance to offer their opinions on the future of Iraq.
While concerns of select and limited audiences are proper reasons for denying private companies' use of public space, there are other aspects to be considered in the case of al-Jazeera's request.
Above all, it is wrong for public officials to write off al-Jazeera's requests as politically charged as many people have been doing. The Qatar-based media organization that claims 35 million viewers worldwide, including about 500,000 in the United States, should be treated with the same respect by American leaders as any other news provider.
Since the war with Iraq broke out, the Arab news organization has been treated almost as it represents America's enemies and al-Jazeera reporters have been kicked out of the New York Stock Exchange apparently because of space issues.
Like any other media outlet, al-Jazeera should be seen as an objective and creditable news source and likewise be taken with the same grain of salt. No news organization can paint the entire picture for its audience when it comes to events of world magnitude; this is why it is important for learned consumers to take in as many sources as possible - even foreign-based ones.
The bottom line is that the aftermath of the U.S.-led war with Iraq is a timely and important issue for the world to deal with. And the value of such discussion is great.
If such discussions have the potential to contribute to the public good in a positive manner, public officials should be more considerate of allowing for the use of public space.
Guido and public officials like him are right to be wary of loaning out public space for private use, but they should allow themselves to be open to options.
Al-Jazeera will undoubtedly find a venue to hold its forum, but perhaps Dearborn officials should have been more willing to help accommodate the media outlet out of concern for the greater public good.
