On June 22, Quinte News published a Facebook post by Prince Edward County Mayor Steve Ferguson criticizing what he saw as hurtful, and
at times slanderous, online commentary aimed at himself and members of council and county staff. His comments were general in nature but also specific toward one Wellington resident, Al Brosseau.That post can be seen here.
Brosseau asked Quinte News if he could respond to the mayor.
Below is his response.
Mayor Ferguson:
You wrote: Online attacks directed toward me, members of council, and municipal staff have been deeply troubling. They are not attacks. They are questions about the lack of transparency, about the lack of financial information at the information meetings, about the obstructions and steadfast refusal to address letters from Ritchie Hutchison, Hart, Biggart questioning dubious financing of the Wellington Water Plant Expansion project and delusional population expansion projections on which the project is based. Your administration is the cause for citizens’ frustrations and contempt. Your attempts at creating a tempest in a teapot to deflect your administration’s boondoggles on me will not work.
And you posted: “What concerns me particularly is the long-term impact this type of behaviour has on our democracy. What intelligent, committed, or community-minded individual would willingly step into public service if the cost of participating in council—of serving this county as an employee, or volunteering to sit on a committee—is to be subjected to personal attacks, professional smearing, and social media slander.” You’re right, who would be interested in joining an administration that does not listen to its constituents, that obstructs, that manipulates, that bullies like what you did to me on June 28. 2019. On that day you approached me, unannounced, while I was at work to let me know you didn’t like my questions about a potential conflict of interest of one of your councilmen who was promoting a business at the same time this business was applying for a liquor licence. In your email of the following day, you tried to minimize your gross lack of judgement.
I will not be used as a scapegoat to cover the manipulations, obstructions, deceptions, and abuses of the administration you oversee. I’ll keep standing up for what’s right whether it suits you or not.
Wellington resident responds to mayor’s comments
