Bob CollinsThoughts and prayers are with the city officials of Robbinsdale, who got their feelings hurt.
Tony Langfellow, 20, a Robbinsdale native and communications major at St. Cloud State University, has been fired from his job with the city before he started, the Star Tribune reports.
He was going to work at a warming house, but then city officials saw his YouTube video.
“Can I defend to the public having a person on staff who bashes the city on one hand, including its businesses, and then collects a paycheck from it on the other?” Parks and Recreation Director Tom Marshall reportedly told a community newspaper.
“Hey, why do you have this kind of person on staff? How is my kid going to be treated … How are they going to treat my family?” he said.
“Tony produced a harmless, funny video. He is not a criminal stalking Robbinsdale’s youth and their families,” Wally and Dawn Langfellow, his parents, told Sun Newspapers. “Mr. Marshall has never met Tony and we feel he owes him an apology. A government whether large or small, should be able to accept criticism (especially delivered in a parody) as well as praise and adopt a sense of humor.”
“The mayor and the city of Robbinsdale should be able to accept criticism,” Langfellow tells the Star Tribune. “If we can’t laugh at ourselves, we’re in deep trouble.”
Thanks to the city’s reaction, twice as many people have viewed the video than otherwise would have.
