We laud the Mercury truffling out corruption and mismanagement. And we don't intrude into how the Mercury spends the money gained from our eyeballs on its office parties. But perhaps the sin, if any, is that the story of Dexter Gordon was not shared with city staff. The easy version is see the film Round Midnight. It is the story of an African American leaving America for Europe to live without the heavy weight of American racism, and to be respected and honored there for their music. Some say the film was modeled after the life of other musicians. But Gordon playing the lead in the film is all in, himself having fled racism for Europe, struggled with substance problems, finally returning to the US for a few years of grateful performances, finally appreciated, before passing away at age 67. So yes our hipster lifestyles or self righteous water bill payer attitude may seem remote from the life of Gordon. But that doesn't mean we, or city employees, can't learn from it.

Mercury in our water seems like a bad idea. The Mercury should stay in the sewer where it belongs.

"self righteous water bill payer attitude" wtf??
"we" think you should re-evaluate the thrust of the article.