The local Health Department stopped Councillor-at-Large candidate George Rotondo from inoculating residents at a flu clinic being held at Saint Anthony’s Church earlier this week.
A number of councillor-at-large candidates apparently complained that Rotondo would have an undue advantage if he got to perform the inoculations, many of which would have included young children who do not vote.
There is a time and place for everything under the sun, it is written with unsurpassable simplicity in the Old Testament.
There is a time and a place for politics and there is a time and a place for good health and preventive medicine that is what inoculations against the flu are all about – saving lines, preventing medical difficulties.
As a registered nurse, this is Rotondo’s day job – helping out people with medical difficulties.
If he happens to be helping out a resident of Revere, we’re sure there is no conflict of interest for Rotondo or that the person being helped would ask him whether or not he’s a republican or democrat or what office he’s running for and how they should vote.
Rotondo’s sworn duty as a nurse is to help people across the board, day or night, whenever he is called. This is his first job. His second job is representing the people of Revere.
To restrict him from giving out inoculations against the flu because he is a candidate is not only bad medicine, it is bad politics.