Bob Roegner’s Nov. 11 column does an excellent job of capturing the facts. What I would add is this. APPEARANCES matter.

In government, appearances either build or erode trust. This is the reason elected officials, seeking to be elected and trusted, pledge to be transparent and inclusive.

Even the fuzzy ethics code of the city of Federal Way states, “Each Employee is expected to act in accordance with all laws and ethics that may apply to his or her position, as well as striving to avoid even an appearance of impropriety in the conduct of his or her office or business”.

The appearances of the cozy relationship between the mayor’s chief of staff and Weyerhaueser’s real estate agent gives great pause and raise many questions of all types.

The city of Federal Way needs to seriously examine how they wish to be viewed by the public. And then they need to act in accordance with those values and principles.

Public servants, especially those in prominent positions, need to consistently conduct themselves mindful of how their behavior would appear in newspaper headlines.

In general, I’m one of those who believe the majority of public employees strive to provide the best services possible to the public.

In this case, something went wrong. It’s deeply concerning to say the least. The optics aren’t good.

Laurie Brown, Federal Way