A Fairmont City Council member engaged in a charade recently to make herself look better in light of news that was disappointing to her. Council member Ruth Cyphers should apologize to the city’s interim attorney and to citizens.

The Minnesota Office of the State Auditor recently rejected an inquiry from Fairmont about whether the OSA could conduct a “forensic audit” of the city’s books for the past 17 years. The OSA saw too many problems with a list created by Cyphers because it involved almost no accounting issues. The list was, in fact, just odd, involving politics, personnel and innuendo that, once revealed, angered the local people or entities targeted.

A City Council member is solely responsible for the ideas, plans and reports they put forward. Period. But Cyphers tried two outs. The first was that the list was not hers because it came from others, like constituents. The second was that the list was not hers because the city’s interim civil attorney, Flaherty & Hood, did not “vet” the allegations before the State Auditor got them.

The person who should have vetted the list was Cyphers. She should have seen its silliness. That she did not is troubling.

That she would blame others is worse. Especially by trying to pass the buck onto Flaherty & Hood. What does a law firm know about “accounting” issues pushed forward by a council member? The Auditor’s Office is the expert, not the law firm. And the State Auditor’s Office roundly rejected Cyphers’ presentation. For her, that may sting, but a council member should be bigger than trying to shift rightful blame.