Submitted by Robbie Courts.
I am NOT voting for Beth Elliott for City Council in DuPont for the following reasons:
I think she is toxic to our city. She and her partner Judy Norris have sued the City of DuPont more than once and have repeatedly tied up the staff and City resources making large Freedom of Information requests.
She and her partner Judy, along with the FB page they run (Save our City) use bullying techniques to try to silence anyone who disagrees with them. Examples of this include blocking anyone (or verbally attacking them) who says anything on the Save Our City (and any other DuPont FB pages) FB page that challenges their opinions, or supports their opposing position; going to the offices of a state senator and the county executive and threatening them politically if they didn’t withdraw their endorsement of a candidate that they didn’t like; instigating hiring of private investigators to try to find negative info on candidates they oppose, encouraging others to harass candidates they don’t like, etc.
Beth misrepresents facts, giving false impressions, especially regarding zoning and land use. An example: Beth has made multiple comments during her campaign about stopping warehouses. The reality is that none of the currently available commercial land in DuPont (including around the Golf course/ Old Fort Lake) for development is zoned for warehouses….in fact, the previous administration worked hard to add more appropriate options, and further restricted sizes of buildings, so warehouses could not be built.
The warehouses at the end of Center Drive (Amazon, etc) were due to a zoning change (allowing that when it was not previously allowed) that was made around 2001, when Beth’s good friend Dennis Clark was the City Planner. Once a use is allowed, it cannot legally be taken off. The warehouses weren’t built until later due to the recession, but they were zoned that way back then.
Beth claims she got rid of trucks on Center Drive. The truth is that before Edmunds Village or Bell Hill had houses (before the early 2000’s, both were originally zoned for business tech areas), some Palisades residents (including Beth) petitioned to prohibit trucks going out south to Exit 118, although Center Drive was built to handle that and that was Northwest Landing/Weyhauser’s original intent)….so Edmunds Village and Bell Hill got all of the truck traffic. More recently, the previous mayor and city staff worked diligently with Amazon to build a bridge behind Amazon allowing for the trucks to go out of Wharf Road, and bypass Center Drive totally. Currently, there are rarely trucks on Center Drive, but Beth had nothing to do with that.
Beth doesn’t follow the “rules of her position”. While serving on the Planning Commission, she took info that was in a confidential and “brainstorming/draft” stage to an outside agency, misrepresenting herself as “officially from the City of DuPont” and asking for an assessment. The agency fortunately recognized this as inappropriate and reported her back to the City Staff, for which she was reprimanded. I have concerns about her ability to stay within her lane as a City Council member, if she were to be elected.
She is talking recently about suing the gravel mine for actions that they legally have the right to pursue. If she persists with this notion, the City of DuPont will more than likely end up in very expensive litigation that it will most likely lose.
In summary, Beth and her closest supporters have created and fostered a very hostile environment in DuPont. The use of threats and intimidation have become standard practice. Her election to City Council would both reward this behavior and put her in a position to pursue actions likely to cause great harm to the City of DuPont. This is not the environment that I want to live in, and I hope the citizens of DuPont are willing to vote for something better.
Mike Courts, why didn’t you post this yourself? These are the same sad arguments you used to lose the 2019 mayor election to Mayor Ron Frederick by almost 30%. DuPont residents knew you were in bed with the developers, losing every legal challenge mounted by the citizens and a non-profit group.
Not only does this libel reflect poorly on the council candidates you are backing- Susanna Keilman, John Colvin and Frank Diaz-it also lets the world see what a bitter loser you are. Keilman lost to Beth in a landslide in the primary. And, John Colvin, who received $500 from a warehouse backed PAC (said warehouse company tried to build warehouses in a prohibited area last spring) and lost in the primary.
And, might this PDC complaint help explain, in part, why you lost the election? https://www.pdc.wa.gov/browse/cases/60672?fbclid=IwAR23BRFLbTh8Ycgm4rUhRAIWv4b8lDp6KbAa0wk_OFYTK3WKQfISceCiwnM
Of particular interest, are the exhibits to the substantiated complaints:
https://pdc-case-tracking.s3.us-gov-west-1.amazonaws.com/3407/60672%20Courts%20Mike%20-%20Complaint%20Attach.pdf
Robbie Courts, this is libel pure and simple. Shame on you.
Unfortunately, this letter is full of falsehood and misrepresentation.
Firstly, it was not written by Robbie Courts. As the wife of the former may, she was not involved in city business. She was not at confidential meetings. She has no zoning or development experience. She was not familiar with any of the legal matters of the city.
The accusations in this letter are in fact almost verbatim quotes from her husband, Mike Courts, who was voted out in a landslide two years ago because of numerous ethical issues. Although he vowed to take a break, it’s clear the temptation of rancor and bitter blame was too attractive for a man with a pattern of verbal abuse and political retribution.
Second, every one of these accusations is false. I am one of the cofounders of the citizens’ group, Save Our City. I called one of the original meetings of almost twenty-five longterm members of the community, As a forty-year resident of the city, I wa dismayed when several woman contacted me with serious concerns. In making careful inquires, I discovered widespread ethical violations. Including that then-Mayor Mike Courts had threatened, denigrated and attempted to punish citizens by calling their workplaces.
Not only did I call an ethics meetings—I was also fundamentally involved in initiating the lawsuits against the city. This was a group action. No one or two persons was in charge. Almost a hundred people from across the city testified, gave money and stood up against illegal development. These were community lawsuits.
This letter completely mischaracterize the legal action. We (not Beth or Judy alone) went to the courts for a ruling, because our development director was flouting our own city laws.
We won multiple times. And several illegal development proposals were stopped, because a large group of us used our democratic rights and gave generously financially—to force our own city to obey law. Our demands for ethical leadership were met with insults, mockery and harassment.
This letter is just a continuing pattern of extreme negativity, blame and toxicity that we as citizens faced for four years.
Every other point in this letter is false also. This is merely a smear campaign designed to manipulate an election,
DuPont is a close-knit community full of volunteers, active citizens, vibrant small businesses, military retirees, and wonderful schools. Negative campaigning like this doesn’t work in our city. Smear campaigns are disgraceful. When candidates aligned with the unethical platform of our former mayor can’t win on merit alone, they must resort to lies and fear. It’s unfortunate that Beth Elliot’s opponent, Susanna Keilman, gave her approval of this post on social media.
Having known Beth now for almost five years, I am certain that Beth would never behave in a similar manner. Her humility, willingness to listen, and vast experience—her moral courage and character—are why I and most of my neighbors are voting for Beth Elliot. She’s clearly the better candidate in this race. This letter will backfire, because the smart citizens of our beautiful city recognize the difference between a courageous city volunteer who shines with love and grace, and the ugliness and desperation of negative campaigning and its toxic source.
Robbie Courts, I am so sickened you would write such lies about Beth Elliott. Your husband is a mean, bitter man who only had his mayoral seat because no one ran against him. Your husband lost his reflection to someone who won a whopping 68% of the vote. His opponent ran a clean campaign and your husband hired Dave Maestas to slander your opponent and threaten to “expose” his supporters. When someone would publicly speak out against your husband, he called their employers in attempt to get them fired. You did this to one of your council members as well. You also illegally fired Beth Elliott from the planning commission for sharing public information because you wanted more warehouses built around the golf course. Thankfully she was reinstated after she hired an attorney to fight your illegal actions against her. You also have signs in your yard supporting Frank Diaz, a man well known domestic violence and his multiple restraining orders. Anyone can search his court records in Pierce County, Hawaii, and California. He attempted to traffic his wife for sex. I could go on but thankfully DuPont knows what your husband and the people he supports are all about – zero ethics. VOTE for BETH, MAAME, SUSAN and MIKE so DuPont can get rid of the toxic crew on council you support! I am going to pray for you tonight, Robbie Courts.
Beth Elliott is an amazing person, and advocate for current and future residents and visitors of DuPont.
She continues to have my full support and endorsement. I know she is one of the few who will stand up for what is right, and take action in times of need….I can hardly say the same for more than half the current DuPont City Council members , and I am SO READY for change!
It’s a damn shame Beth will even have to respond to this childish nonsense…. I’m honestly shocked the person who shared this through social media risked losing votes at the expense of sharing unfounded “evidence” and egocentric ramblings of a disgruntled former public servant and their spouse.
I have all the respect in the world for people who put themselves out there trying to make the world a better place, but when egos and agendas get in the way of the greater good, it’s time to move on and hang up the towel.
Two votes for Beth came from my house today, and I’m quite certain there are many more to come. I know Beth will continue to hold her head up high, and keep fighting the good fight. So many of us stand with, and beside her.
This type of nonsense just reflects poorly on the former mayor, the candidates he is backing, and the overall negative stench of what has become DuPont politics. Frankly, it’s embarrassing. Which is a shame because there are several things he did well, but have long been forgotten because of this kind of crap. Egos and bitterness have no place in the midst of people genuinely trying to be the change.
Mike did not write this. I did. I have refrained from saying anything publicly for the past 10 years because I knew whatever I said would be attributed to my husband, but I am also allowed to have an opinion and speak up. I have seen many false accusations and misinformation put out, mostly in a bullying format on social media. Bullies exist because no one is willing to confront them, and DuPont’s social media has a bullying tone. There are several hundred acres of undeveloped privately owned commercial land in DuPont. If you consider trying to shape how that land is developed, rather than letting it be random and not what would benefit the city as “in bed with developers”, then, yes, I would prefer a mayor and city council members who are looking to shape how that development goes in a positive way. We may not all agree on what that is, but you are burying your head in the sand if you think nothing will ever be built there. There are a lot of other choices besides warehouses (for which none of that land is currently zoned), and that discussion should be out there.
Robbie, you didn’t write this on your own. You’re repeating verbatim many of the false accusations your husband has levied against not just Beth, but many other citizens of our community.
I don’t doubt that YOU heard these things, YOU believe these things, YOU sat down and YOU typed it all out, YOU posted it on YOUR page, and then YOU had it published here. YOU bear responsibility for sharing these lies—even if the lies directly came from your husband.
But the content did not originate with you. You didn’t request City documents and do your own research. You weren’t a participant in the confidential discussions about Beth’s case. The information about land development law didn’t come from nowhere. The phrases and points you make are exactly the same as your husband, which we’ve heard over and over in years of emotional and inappropriate rants.
I’m sorry you’ve chosen to spread lies, because I’ve always found you to be respectful and gracious.
But this is slander. You have no evidence for what you published. You are completely wrong about who initiated lawsuits and FOIA requests. I know, because I was a party to these. I helped initiate these lawsuits against illegal city decisions. I helped raise funds from citizens. Don’t take away credit from the people of DuPont, who funded proper dissent, because you’re desperate to see one of your clique members gain office.
You claim others are bullying, when your husband screamed at, threatened, and called the employers of DuPont residents. He blocked the appointment of kind, good, qualified, long-time residents of the city, preventing them from serving because they respectfully disagreed about city decisions. This is called political retribution. It’s bullying. It’s unethical. An investigation was started with the Attorney General’s office and the FBI, because undemocratic behaviors like that aren’t the American way.
The hypocrisy in this letter is clear, obvious and unfortunate. Our city had never been more mistrustful of governance, more divided, and more hostile. Employees at City Hall walked around on eggshells. One personally asked me to talk to Mike, because his anger and blowups were not just against citizens. This was after the police chief apologized to me directly for being called into another meeting, where his presence was used to try to intimidate me. Talk about unhealthy, ugly, nasty, toxic behavior. In America.
Mike was voted out for not just his own abusive bad behavior, but tolerating these incidents of poor character and the ignoring city law and ethics among his staff.
But you, Robbie, have now lowered the bar in this election. You are right. You are the one who resorted to false personal attack. In the last election, a supporter of your husband harassed military wives, women and other residents of the city. In this election, you get to be the one to do the dirty work. This is nothing to be proud of.
I either mistook you for a person of Christian character, or maybe the Bible is correct: “Bad company corrupts good character.” Spreading lies is a sin. May God forgive you, that you put politics over truth and loving your neighbor.
Everyone who aligns themselves with this toxic Old Boy’s Club loses their moral compass. I don’t blame you for falling into step with the pattern of spreading hateful lies. Apparently, though silent and outwardly respectful, you all along part of the club, and actually harbored the same resentments, believed the same untruths, and was willing to attack innocent people. Thankfully, the city has already rejected this atmosphere. Negative campaigning only serves to make the stark difference between our political approaches more clear.
* Vote November 2 to change the tenor of city council. We’ve had enough drama and wasted energy.
Here are the 2019 election results:
Ron Frederick 64.31
Mike Courts 35.08
2021 primary results:
Beth Elliott 59.25
Susanna Keilman 31.40 (supported by Mike Courts)
Chris Harper 9.21 (also received $500 from the same warehouse backed PAC as John Colvin)
Penny Coffey sabotaged you and your husband. She has spoke negatively about you, Mike,Shawna, Amy Walker and Mike Gorski and many others around town. Prove us wrong!!!
Robbie Courts, you are correct: “I have seen many false accusations and misinformation put out, mostly in a bullying format on social media. Bullies exist because no one is willing to confront them…” Your husband not only has a PDC violation against him for engaging in false accusations, misinformation and bullying, he also was a bully. And, judging by your letter, he is still a bully.
https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/politics-government/election/article236379303.html
The bullying and harassment by Dave Maestas, who your husband hired (one can still find “interviews” filled with lies o his media pages) led to one of the then council members opening a DPD case investigation. The council member then shared on social media how those who were being threatened could file a police report.
Just to clarify, Dave Maestas was not hired by my husband. We did meet with him once at his request during the election, because we are open to hear reasonable discussions from others. However, there was no hiring or approval of any techniques that he may have used. Mike also met with various developers at their requests, because he is open minded about exploring various options for the city. At no time did he seek out warehouses or think that was a good option for the city; in fact, he worked hard to seek out other options. He did allow a developer who wanted to push for warehouses to be on a council meeting agenda, because that is free speech, but he assured that developer the city would not go for it all all. Your “sueings” were unnecessary efforts. Beth was appointed by Mike to the Planning Commision because he supports diverse views; he did not ever fire her. She published her story and her interpretation of it in the newspaper. I think my husband is one of the most ethical people I know, and I can assure all of you that he allows me to think for myself.
In addition to spreading lies about Beth and Judy, you now are calling Candice Rudd one for quoting your husband saying he fired Beth? At this point, I will no longer respond to you because I think you are living in a word of your own making.
This shameful libelous spew is not getting the reaction you want. I feel sorry for you right now.
https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/article177359721.html
No approval of the techniques employed by Mr Maestas?
It is common knowledge that Mr. Maestas runs the Ranger page which spent a great deal of the time plugging your husband and attacking Ron and anyone who supported him. I know this is fact because I was one of the people attacked. It was AFTER your husband knew about these attacks on citizens that he chose to still meet with him anyway, as you say…to get another view? Your husband took weeks to speak out against Mr. Maestas after these attacks took place yet showed his appreciation of the support given on the Ranger page by liking the comment and stating he appreciated the support. He could’ve separated himself from that page way before the ugliness started but he chose to let it fester and for citizens to be attacked for weeks before he felt the pressure to speak up. Shame shame on you for saying he didn’t approve of the tactics used. Just look at the screenshots at the bottom of the PDC documents. It’s all there.
I apologize in advance for this long post, but after consultation with my attorney, I have decided to make a rare personal statement on behalf of myself and my wife, Judy, after a statement by Robbie Courts was publicly shared to two DuPont social media groups by Isabella Lynn Colvin. So as not to misrepresent Mrs. Courts’ words in any way, I will cite verbatim from her statement, and I will respond to each allegation.
A statement from Robbie Courts
“I am NOT voting for Beth Elliott for City Council in DuPont for the following reasons:
–I think she is toxic to our city. She and her partner Judy Norris have sued the City of DuPont more than once and have repeatedly tied up the staff and City resources making large Freedom of Information requests.
RESPONSE 1 (Lawsuits against City): My wife, Judy Norris, and I have never sued the City of DuPont. We have, however, had to hire attorneys on three occasions.
1. Save Our City (SOC), a citizens’ activist group, raised over $13,000 to hire an attorney to file an administrative appeal of the City’s code interpretation that would have permitted Copperleaf, a development company, to construct buildings that were actually “disguised” warehouses on the OFL property. SOC prevailed in the appeal.
2. Although SOC was the prevailing party in the appeal of the City’s code interpretation, the City, under the Courts’ Administration, decided to take punitive action and it billed Judy over $6,000 for the Hearing Examiner’s fees. Judy retained an attorney at personal expense to oppose the fees. An amicable settlement was reached by the parties, although Judy was required to sign a confidentiality agreement as part of the settlement.
3. I hired an attorney at personal expense to challenge former Mayor Courts’ decision to fire me as a Planning Commissioner on the Planning Commission. I was reinstated to my position, and I served my full term.
4. After the Planning Commission passed the Critical Area Ordinance (CAO), where I was the only Planning Commissioner to vote no on the CAO, I retained a land use attorney at personal expense to review the ordinance. For the most part, the attorney agreed with the ordinance, however, he suggested that if I was concerned about dewatering its aquifer, the city should include language in the ordinance to protect the aquifer from development. Additionally, the attorney suggested that the city could insert a clause into the ordinance prohibiting mining, gravel extraction, or similar excavation that would have more than a de minimis impact on the City’s wetlands and aquifer. As a citizen, I sent the city council a letter requesting that the foregoing language be included in the City’s CAO. Thereafter, the current City Attorney told individual council members not to talk to me and I never heard from the council regarding my letter. The CAO came for a vote before the council over a year later and the suggested language regarding the protection of the City’s wetlands and aquifer was not included.
RESPONSE 2 (Public Records): My wife, Judy, and I have never filed a Freedom of Information (FOIA) request since FOIA is a federal law and does not apply to local governments. Judy has, however, made public document requests under Washington’s Public Records Act. The request was necessary to obtain primary source documents regarding the former mayor’s intentions as to the development of the Old Fort Lake property and to challenge the City’s code interpretation regarding the OFL property as well.
It is interesting to note that the city, under the Courts’ Administration, settled a civil lawsuit by a DuPont family for $125,000 on the family’s claim that the city violated the Public Records Act.
–She and her partner Judy, along with the FB page they run (Save our city) use bullying techniques to try to silence anyone who disagrees with them. Examples of this include blocking anyone (or verbally attacking them) who says anything on the Save Our City (and any other DuPont FB pages) FB page that challenges their opinions, or supports their opposing position; going to the offices of a state senator and the county executive and threatening them politically if they didn’t withdraw their endorsement of a candidate that they didn’t like; instigating hiring of private investigators to try to find negative info on candidates they oppose, encouraging others to harass candidates they don’t like, etc.
RESPONSE 1 (SOC): SOC was founded in 2017 by Judy Norris, Maria Guidatis and Lisa Merkl in response to former Mayor Courts’ attempts to circumvent the City’s zoning codes prohibiting the construction of distribution warehouses on OFL. Over the years, SOC has successfully challenged the City’s attempt to construct warehouses on OFL and the impermissible construction of a 16-pump ARCO station next to a Class I wetland at the entrance of the Historic Village.
SOC has established and posted rules which members agree to when they join the group. Members who violate the rules receive warnings or they are banned from the group depending on the severity of the violation.
RESPONSE 2 (Bullying/Harassment): There is a difference between opposing a person’s opinion or position and bullying or harassing conduct. I agree with the former, as it is protected free speech, and not with the latter.
It is interesting to note that former Mayor Mike Courts was alleged to have engaged in bullying/harassing conduct during the last mayoral election:
https://www.pdc.wa.gov/browse/cases/60672?fbclid=IwAR1MHJNWLUbWrt2eh86P6wLVF6gqVXJriWzmrGedUodeI8cPDgfagrwKhJo
RESPONSE 2 (Public Officials): In the free exercise of speech, Judy joined other citizens during the last mayoral election in emailing Denny Heck and Steve O’Ban regarding their endorsement of Mike Courts for Mayor. In the email, we merely put forth the reasons, supported by documents, as to why we believed Mike Courts was not suitable candidate for mayor.
RESPONSE 3 (PIs): My wife, Judy, and I have never hired a private investigator.
–Beth misrepresents facts, giving false impressions, especially regarding zoning and land use. An example: Beth has made multiple comments during her campaign about stopping warehouses. The reality is that none of the currently available commercial land in DuPont (including around the Golf course/ Old Fort Lake) for development is zoned for warehouses….in fact, the previous administration worked hard to add more appropriate options, and further restricted sizes of buildings, so warehouses could not be built.
RESPONSE: SOC prevailed against the City in its code interpretation of the OFL property. I have not misrepresented facts or given false impressions regarding zoning and land use issues. Just because a person does not agree with my comments does not mean that I misrepresent facts or give false impressions.
–The warehouses at the end of Center Drive (Amazon, etc.) were due to a zoning change (allowing that when it was not previously allowed) that was made around 2001, when Beth’s good friend Dennis Clark was the City Planner. Once a use is allowed, it cannot legally be taken off. The warehouses weren’t built until later due to the recession, but they were zoned that way back then.
RESPONSE: The warehouses in the Industrial Zone were legally built. I have never stated otherwise.
–Beth claims she got rid of trucks on Center Drive. The truth is that before Edmunds Village or Bell Hill had houses (before the early 2000’s, both were originally zoned for business tech areas), some Palisades residents (including Beth) petitioned to prohibit trucks going out south to Exit 118, although Center Drive was built to handle that and that was Northwest Landing/Weyhauser’s original intent)….so Edmunds Village and Bell Hill got all of the truck traffic. More recently, the previous mayor and city staff worked diligently with Amazon to build a bridge behind Amazon allowing for the trucks to go out of Wharf Road, and bypass Center Drive totally. Currently, there are rarely trucks on Center Drive, but Beth had nothing to do with that.
RESPONSE: Mike and Robbie Courts did not live in DuPont in 1997 when Center Drive was just a concept on paper. I and a group of like-minded citizens successfully lobbied the City Council in 1997 to restrict truck traffic on Center Drive as the city grew. The DuPont City Council passed 16.05.010, prohibiting all commercial vehicles, with or without trailers, having a gross vehicle weight in excess of 14,000 pounds on Center Drive from its intersection on McNeil Street to its intersection on Palisade Boulevard.
–Beth doesn’t follow the “rules of her position”. While serving on the Planning Commission, she took info that was in a confidential and “brainstorming/draft” stage to an outside agency, misrepresenting herself as “officially from the City of DuPont” and asking for an assessment. The agency fortunately recognized this as inappropriate and reported her back to the City Staff, for which she was reprimanded. I have concerns about her ability to stay within her lane as a City Council member, if she were to be elected.
RESPONSE: The above comments are similar to the ones Mayor Courts used as one reason to fire me from the Planning Commission. As stated previously, after I retained an attorney at personal expense, I was fully reinstated to my position without any finding of wrongdoing.
-She is talking recently about suing the gravel mine for actions that they legally have the right to pursue. If she persists with this notion, the City of DuPont will more than likely end up in very expensive litigation that it will most likely lose.
RESPONSE: I have never said that I will sue “the gravel mine.” I do, however, have concerns about the mine and I have publicly expressed those concerns on my campaign page, on social media groups, and at the recent Candidate Forum. The Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) has not yet been issued, so it is premature to even discuss litigation or the legal rights of “the gravel” mine now.
In summary, Beth and her closest supporters have created and fostered a very hostile environment in DuPont. The use of threats and intimidation have become standard practice. Her election to City Council would both reward this behavior and put her in a position to pursue actions likely to cause great harm to the City of DuPont. This is not the environment that I want to live in, and I hope the citizens of DuPont are willing to vote for something better.
Please feel free to share this post if you live in DuPont and agree.”
SUMMARY: Robbie Courts is exercising her right to freedom of speech and she has publicly stated that she will not vote for me. In a democracy, each of us has the right to vote for the candidate that best fits our ideals. I have lived in this city for over 25 years. I walked Center Drive when it was nothing but dirt, gravel, and heavy machinery. I have not already predetermined the rights of the “gravel mine” before an EIS has been issued. Clearly, I am not a candidate that best fits her ideals, and I am okay with that.
Just for the record, only 43.37% of the registered voters in DuPont voted in the 2019 election, and only 23.78% voted in the 2021 primary this past August. Generally speaking, people who are content with how things are going don’t make as much effort to vote, but the discontented do. I am not really looking to change the minds or votes of the 5-10 people who have posted here. I am appealing to the 77.22% of the registered DuPont voters who have not previously made the effort to vote. It is your city, and if those candidates supported by Save Our City win the City Council seats, your city may go in directions you didn’t really want. Please vote!
So, first it’s Save our City’s fault your husband lost, now it’s low voter turn out, despite 43% being high for a non-presidential election year. What will be next? Voter fraud? Ballot tampering? Voting machine glitches?
The voters of DuPont spoke loud and clear with their ballots in 2019. There was no shortage of voters. The citizens wanted a new style of leadership. One that listened and respected the views of those served. One that didn’t condemn different views, but considered them thoughtfully and didn’t take personal offense to someone who disagreed. People voted for transparency in decision making at city hall.
Citizens still seek these characteristics in the council member seats that will soon be filled. It’s time the good ole boys club realizes that their style, their vision, and their way of conducting business is NOT representative of the majority of people in DuPont.
Dear Sun-Times,
Shame on you to run such a nasty letter of lies. Do better!
So now the SubTimes allows political hit pieces with absolutely no corroborating evidence. It’s obvious to anyone who has a pulse in DuPont what this libelous letter is.
It’s ok though in the end. King Courts lives in his own ego filled kingdom. He lost a one term run for a reason. And it sure wasn’t because not enough people voted. Even DJT hasn’t tried that spin. Yet. And, lying about not firing Beth? Did Robbie not read the front page news of the TNT in October 2017? He sealed his coffin then.
I hope the candidates who got in bed with him can hold their heads up in the city once the election is over. I wonder if John Colvin realizes his wife made him a laughing stock of a candidate by sharing this hit piece.
I find it hilarious that Mike Courts, supposedly through his partner, Robbie, is playing victim. The letter shows that someone misses being King of DuPont, not mayor. He fostered a toxic environment and sought retribution against anyone who dared question or challenge him, such as calling the employers of a number of citizens requesting that their supervisors reprimand them for their free speech.
He is the biggest bully in town and now he complains that others are bullying? He is the one who blocked comments from his official DuPont Mayor FB page when the comments in any way criticized him. The truth is, he can’t handle criticism of any kind and rather than attack the argument, he attacks the person.
So let’s look at the candidates not supported by Save Our City. First, there is John Colvin. John is on a city commission. John likes to insult citizens online. John’s wife, Isabella Lynn Colvin, thinks he’s funny when he does so and she even joins him. Then on a campaign forum, John says he against social media bullying.
Next, there is Frank Diaz. Frank has a domestic violence history. Frank also sent individual mailers to citizens who have been critical of his background with handwritten notes about how the person’s comment was wrong.
Next, there is Susanna Keilman. Susanna has no platform. Susanna is very good a reactive politics, posting inane remarks she calls “initiatives.” Whenever a comment arises about some council candidates, Susanna posts cute little blurbs like Fraud, Waste, etc. that she clearly knows is directed at a particular candidate and addresses how she will react differently. That’s all well and fine, except how is that going to help DuPont after the fact? We need leaders with a proactive vision to better the city, not someone who post picture quotes, apparently when she’s trying to make a point.
Last but definitely not least, we have Shawna Gasak, a sitting council member who enjoys bullying people on social media, such as her #JudgeJudy post making fun of a citizen. Shawna also thinks that the appointment of council members is a decision based on who is best for the council and not who is best for the citizens. Shawna dislikes Save Our City, so much so that during the last mayoral election (where Mike Courts was soundly defeated despite “low voter” turnout), Shawna, a sitting council member, thought she was hilarious when she openly mocked the group with numerous citizen members. Until recently, Shawna also mocked the wearing of masks. Since she is up for re-election, suddenly Shawna is fine with wearing a mask. Oh, and we shouldn’t forget the time Shawna threw a literal, and public, hissy fit when there was citizen opposition to the council holding a council retreat at Ocean Shores.
These four candidates are those that Mike Courts supports. It’s true, birds of a feather do flock together.
Just vote.