Shirt shop shuns not-so-subtle slam
Staff writer
Mike Beneke tried to order a T-shirt he wanted from Western Associates in Marion, but the shop turned him down.
The Main St. business is owned by county commissioner Dave Crofoot.
Beneke’s made-to-order shirt reads, “And Randy Frank still works here?”
It is an expression of his opinion of the county emergency manager who has been called into numerous meetings with commissioners to discuss his performance.
The order was turned away for political reasons, Beneke said. They said it was a conflict of interest because Crofoot owns the business.
Beneke said the emergency management director would have been the first thing he would have taken care of, had he been elected to the commission when he campaigned for the position a year ago.
Instead, Beneke got the shirt printed at Khaos Apparel in Newton. It arrived Friday.
On his way home, Beneke said he stopped at Hillsboro’s American Legion post, where the shirt got a standing ovation.
Beneke said he gets positive reactions to his shirt when he wears it, but said he’d rather have shopped local.