Montrose explores anonymous request policy

Someone made an anonymous request to the Montrose City Council recently that it should revoke its purchase of a John Deere MX5 rotary cutter until multiple quotes are presented, according to a report in the May 5 Herald Journal. Montrose doesn’t have a policy for dealing with anonymous requests, so the council asked the city staff to devise one. If there is any doubt at all whether an anonymous request has merit government, organizations and businesses should feel free to ignore it. The requester should have enough courage of conviction to use his real name. However, in a forum such as a blog like this one, where we solicit comments from readers and want discussion, having our readers submit comments anonymously makes the discussion livelier. There is a place for anonymity. Government isn’t one of those, however.