June 7, 2009… Mark Puente is certainly having a wonderful time tilling the rich corrupt soil at Cuyahoga County and Cleveland public offices. May his garden grow and grow.

The young Plain Dealer reporter is digging in fertile soil. You have to wonder where reporters who have covered Cuyahoga County for the last decade or more have been. They certainly haven’t been looking very carefully.

Anyway, Puente came at just the right time. Former Sheriff Gerry McFaul thought he was God and could dump on employees while he fattened the salaries of friends and relatives. People do talk when that happens.

They talked and Puente listened.

Now, Puente in today’s Plain Dealer set his sights on Earle Turner, the hapless Cleveland Clerk of Courts.

Hard to determine whether former Councilman McFaul or former Councilman Turner is the dumber or more arrogant. Neither one was ever mistaken as swift as Council members.

McFaul poking Puente with his cane perfectly fits the crudeness of the man. He’s been getting away with bad behavior for years. The signs were always there going back to his problems with women employees.

Turner reveals his idiocy by using the excuse, “I ride my bike. I am an avid cyclist” to divert attention from the fact that his vehicle hardly makes it very often to the Justice Center offices where he’s supposed to work.

Turner may have been the youngest Councilman but he never came close to being the brightest.

However, someone should tell him to remain quiet and thus not make a fool of himself.

He told Puente that instead of a calendar, “A lot of stuff I remember in my head. I don’t keep the stuff. I have a tremendous responsibility. I am an elected official.”

Oh, that explains it all.

One hopes that PD photographers have followed Turner to the golf links for his favorite pastime and what hours he plays.

Puente does what reporters are actually supposed to do. He checks the records and the facts. Then he reports them.

Most important, however, is that he’s not afraid to seek and report unpleasant facts. So many reporters shy from being critical. Not always surprising because newspaper editors often are the best censors we have.

So far, Puente has been allowed to roam and ride. Hopefully, he’ll find other, bigger targets. And that he’ll be allowed the same freedom.

The fact that this information hasn’t come to us from former County and police reporters is that they were too lazy or fearful about doing an honest, tough job.

Puente deserves great credit for exhibiting neither of these qualities.