By Bill Kelly, Stevensville
To clarify Mr. Crew’s position on serving as mayor of Stevensville again: Despite several past and current council members’ apparent interest in bringing Jim Crews back to the Council, Mr. Crews made abundantly clear during a social media post on June 29, 2020 that he has no interest in serving as Stevensville’s mayor, nor did he during the last election cycle:
“Get this straight. I do not give a crap about running for mayor and really did not back then. No one else filed to run, so I said I would just so he would not win the election by acclimation. So stick it in your ear. I did not want to be mayor back then, do not want to be mayor now or ever again. Especially to have to clean up the problems this kid has created for this town.”
These remarks are sad and disappointing on several levels.
1. A past-mayor of Stevensville only ran for office out of spite to prevent “this kid” from winning. What happened to running for office out of civic duty? If he had won the election, would Mr. Crews, a self-proclaimed “Private American Citizen,” have taken his oath of office to heart and served the community to the best of his abilities?
2. Mr. Crews displays obvious ageism toward our current mayor. Though less condescending than “that little punk,” which is how he’s referred publicly to Mayor Dewey in the past, it is still concerning that Mr. Crews does not feel any need to support and encourage the younger generations in pursuing their civic duties.
3. Despite the numerous public comments Mr. Crews has heard regarding his vociferous demeanor, his continued vitriolic, condescending, and intimidating tone is disturbing and disheartening. One would hope he’d take these comments to heart and give thought before making such harsh remarks in a public forum (or really anywhere). Instead, he acts as if there are no consequences to his actions or his word. How unpleasant is this?
On a separate note, I wonder how the third mayoral candidate, Mark Adams, feels about this?
Jim Crews says
Fact is, you have taken my comments out of context. So here is the real deal. No, I did not want to be mayor when I was appointed, but someone had to do it, so I stepped up to the plate and did it. Even though I was faced with an aggressive staff who only wanted their applicant for the job so they could continue their own little fiefdom. I will not go into all the personnel problems with which I had to deal. I did the job that needed to be done. In some cases I did the job knowing full well that I would be stabbed in the back over and over again. But I took my oath of office and did the job.
I care about what I do, and when I say I will do a job, I do a good job.
Do I want to be mayor again? NO, NO and NO!
I ran in the election for the right reasons, no matter what I said in the social media post. People like you attack and attack and attack. We get a little tired of it. Even when you depart a site you continue to attack so we hear it from people all over town.
I get tired and say things I do not mean just like anyone. You do it and have done it a number of times. Everyone that reads this has done it. We all say things sometimes that come out wrong, or things we just do not mean. Its called being a human being.
I really did not want the job then, but I did it, and did it pretty well. I will not seek it again, because of unforgiving people like you Mr. Kelley, even when I helped you, you really did not care that I did help you. When I did what the public wanted and created the fishing access site, everyone was pleading for it. We did it, it was used and then along came what seemed a better deal, and the hell with the town’s hard work at putting in the fishing access site. Someone has a better lolli pop.
That is the nature of politics and it is sickening the way some of the people act. So no, there is no way I want to be part of that again.
Brandon Dewey says
“We all say things sometimes that come out wrong, or things we just do not mean.”
This is an interesting statement, Jim. You put Monica Hoffman in a lousy position when “people like you attack and attack and attack.” Monica has always maintained professionalism in her interactions with citizens and members of the organization. You wore her down to a point where she responded in an email in a way she ordinarily wouldn’t have.
So, the hypocrisy you spout continues. When you misspeak or get upset on social media (or anywhere for that matter) and Mr. Kelly (or anyone else) calls you out for it, you cry victim. However, you deem it appropriate file a complaint against someone you clearly provoked a response from. I’m not condoning nor condemning Ms. Hoffman’s response to you, but we’ve all had enough of your double standards. You’ll argue that Monica is an town official and has to respond professionally, where the standard is lower for a regular citizen. That’s true, but remember we’re all human beings.