By Monica Hoffman, Laura Miller, Janelle Berthoud & Robert Underwood
As employees of the Town of Stevensville, we write this letter to express our frustration, hurt and disappointment in several members of Council, former elected officials and certain community members whose ongoing and relentless actions against the Town’s administration have become unbearable. We feel that we are under attack and are subject to an unhealthy work environment.
Over the past several months we have sadly seen an increase in the number of disturbingly rude telephone calls received and we now find ourselves the target of spiteful internet slander. The individuals behind these activities who are vocally discussing Town projects, services, policies/procedures and staff members are doing so by twisting information and disseminating mistruths in what we see as an attempt to shame, discredit and intimidate us. While we try to provide them with correct and factual information, it appears to go ignored. Please note that we, your public service staff, completely understand and respect a person’s right to their opinion under the constitution, but the hateful reasons and hostile tone expressed have become very concerning and upsetting. We, your Town’s employees, categorically deny the allegations made against us by these individuals.
Daily we watch and react in dismay as these members of our community, which we proudly serve, are mistreating us individually and collectively and disrupting our abilities to satisfactorily perform our jobs. Their inquiries and requests for information, as well as responding to unfounded allegations, have wasted countless hours on what we can only describe as a “wild goose chase” to try to accuse our Mayor of illegal action to discredit him and the Town’s administration, us. Besides the obvious damage to staff morale and reputations, this is obviously a waste of resources and embarrassing to our Town’s reputation.
Please know and understand that we, the Town’s employees, recognize that serving the public is a privilege and we are proud to serve you. We take pride in our work and work hard to provide excellent customer service to all community members in a courteous manner. These slanderous remarks and internet postings serve only to create chaos and discord and purposefully reduce our ability to effectively perform our duties.
As your public service staff, we have few avenues to launch complaints against the unacceptable treatment and harmful behavior demonstrated towards us by certain members of Council, former elected officials and certain community members. Therefore, we have joined together in support of each other, and we respectfully ask that these individuals discontinue their harassing, disruptive and wasteful behavior. We understand that they immensely loathe our Mayor; however, their blind obsession to force him out of office has once again found us, the staff of the Town of Stevensville, in the crosshairs of their vicious attacks. These individuals and their ongoing rude and mean-spirited behavior must stop for the good of all.
We ask that we come together as a community to find solutions and respect each other. We encourage those persons with issues or grievances, or who wish to better understand the facts, to schedule a meeting with us.
Terri Larson says
I am sorry that you have to write this letter. I DO understand why. I see for myself what you are referring to. Thank you for continuing to work for the wonderful community of Stevensville. Again, thank you.