MOVE

Farley flap: It’s the Philadelphia way

There’s the right way, the wrong way, and the Philadelphia way.

Health Commissioner Tom Farley got fired for giving the order in 2017 that human remains — bone fragments, mostly — of victims of the May 13, 1985, MOVE disaster should be cremated.

Dr. Tom Farley, gone but not forgotten (Photo: Chestnut Hill Local)

This did not seem to be out of line with the policy for disposal of human remains, but as Farley himself admitted, it was a terrible error in judgment.

Was it serious enough for him to be fired (that’s what it is when your boss, Mayor Jim Kenney, demands a resignation)?

Apparently, yes.

About 24 hours later it was learned that the remains were not actually destroyed.

Should Farley be rehired?

His order to destroy the remains was disobeyed by a subordinate.

Should the subordinate be fired for disobeying an order?

Or should he (or she) be awarded the Philadelphia Bowl?

It’s kind of a dilemma and the egg on the city’s face gets ever stickier.

And the Inquirer willfully broadens the mess into “the treatment of Black Philadelphians,” as if this was racial rather than thoughtless.

The story says there are unanswered questions.

Of course there are. You can read the link I’ve provided if you want more. 

My biggest unanswered question is can we believe anything the clowns running the city have to say?

Stu Bykofsky

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