They have come under a lot of scrutiny and criticism lately because of a state audit and now a Federal Aviation Administration investigation.

The audit occurs annually, and it helps the city fix problems in government. But part of that audit, and the reason behind the FAA probe, is because of a number of accusations made by an airport tenant.

For the most part, those accusations are a result of misinformation that have led to rampant rumors.

For example, one said that Mayor Barb Tolbert allowed her partner to use Arlington Airport property for free for six months. But the truth is, it only looked like that might have happened over a two-month period, and only because a payment was credited to the wrong account in an office clerical error.

The accuser may have been mistaken because there was one account that was not paid for six months. That had to do with the previous airport restaurant. It fell so far behind in payments that its late fees and penalties totalled $9,575.21. The airport commission voted to forgive that debt once the lease payments were paid.

Other accusations are about processes established by the FAA and state auditor themselves. So if those systems are wrong that is not the fault of the city. Other accusations have been investigated in previous years, to no avail. Other accusations are just downright false, having no basis of truth at all.

Part of the criticism deals with Tolbert being both mayor and director of the Arlington Fly-In. But we see no problem with that, since the mayor is a part-time job, unless a conflict-of-interest develops. But in the city response to the FAA and state auditor the symbiotic relationship between the two is explained in detail, with both benefitting fairly equally in the exchange of work and materials.

Another issue, the city using airport property to house a city office, makes perfect sense in saving taxpayer money. Again, as long as both groups benefit, what’s the problem?

City officials will be the first to admit they are not perfect. They have to deal with thousands of state and federal laws, most of which they don’t know. Nobody does. They have to look them up.

The best we can ask for out of our government is for them to do their jobs in good faith. They need to be open and honest and be willing to make needed changes to stay within the law. If they can do that and save taxpayers money at the same time all the better.

Arlington city government has gone through a number of changes the past few years. New people are in jobs. Some mistakes have been made. They have made changes to avoid those mistakes in the future. We can’t ask for more than that.