Unacceptable Behavior By a Public Servant
Dear Friends and Public Servants,
Mayor Pete Muldoon posted a link on his personal Facebook page to an Op Ed I wrote that was posted on The Daily Caller. Below is the introduction he wrote for the Op Ed.
"For all the folks wondering why we don't have a mandate to wear face coverings in public in Teton County to prevent the spread of Covid-19, here is local resident Gloria Courser bragging in the Daily Caller (a right wing propaganda outlet that publishes white supremacist writers) about her successful efforts to stop the issuance of a public health order.
Dr. Riddell declined to issue the order at the time because he felt that there was a risk of violence on the part of the people Gloria is appealing to. I agreed with him.
After going to zero, positives cases are increasing again, and mask use is not remotely where it needs to be to stop the spread of this disease."
Since Pete "unfriended me" a few weeks ago after I pointed out his contradictory support of protests that exceed numbers allowed in statewide health orders after accusing those of us who pushed against a mask mandate of making our town "less safe", I am unable to comment on his post or any of the dialogue that follows.
But, to address a few of the inflammatory accusations he has made and also encouraged or allowed in the dialogue, here goes:
I chose to write an Op Ed about the success of our group's request for public transparency involving how policies are considered, drafted and approved. This decision was made after I received notification that my hometown of Orange County, Florida had adopted a mask mandate. After speaking with many friends in Orlando who disagreed with this mandate as well as the group I am a part of here, we decided that it could be of value to share the story of what happened in Teton County, Wyoming with the rest of the country in hopes it might inspire others to make their voices heard.
The choice for the Daily Caller as the first place to submit my Op Ed was simple. I had met the co-founder Neil Patel, an Indian born American, when he was a client of mine many years ago. I recalled that he ran a publication but I did not know much about it. When I looked at the website I saw right away that it was a source for Conservative news. That did not bother me as I am an independent voter. I vote based upon the individual's platform and merits and not the party. In a single election I may vote for a republican, democrat, and a libertarian.
When Pete first made mention of the article to me on Facebook he decried my choice of publication due to his belief that the Daily Caller hires writers with ties to white supremacism. Of course I reached out to Neil Patel regarding this and his response was to tell me that his publication is primarily owned by a person of color and is also well-known to push against the current administration when needed. He shared this article with me in which he addresses those concerns of ties to white nationalists in 2017. Early on in the Daily Caller's inception, they did not vet the writers as well as they do now. The publishers were unaware what those writers had written in other venues. They have corrected that process since then and going forward will aim to be a "breaking news source" for non-partisan news.
Pete implies by his "outrage" and disbelief that I would write an Op Ed for the Daily Caller that I am somehow responsible for all of their content since they were founded. I guess we should all remember that every organized political group has radicals within the ranks. This is true of the Antifa movement that aligns with the left, the tin-foil hat Libertarians, and the uber Conservative right. If I spent all of my time attempting to only use a platform that is "pure as the driven snow" I may never get my voice heard or my writings published.
As far as Pete's suggestion that I, Gloria Courser alone, am responsible for pushing back against a mask mandate is simply wrong and also denies a voice to all of the locals that have been involved in the process for weeks through phone calls, emails, and meetings and the hundreds of visitors who signed a petition regarding the mask mandate. I guess if by nature of myself being selected as the wordsmith (secretary) Pete wants to give me full credit, that is his choice. But it is not fair nor true in regards to all of the help and support behind the scenes.
If Pete had stopped with the original introduction to his share of my Op Ed, maybe that would have been palatable enough. But, through the dialogue on his page he goes on to imply, accuse, and stir up what I can only say are potentially slanderous, or at the least, outright cruel remarks. He suggests that I have appealed to people of a violent nature and that is why there is no mask mandate, because Pete and Dr. Riddell were concerned for the safety of the community.
Not only is that bordering on slander, it is absolutely false and based on zero historical precedent. The only "evidence" he provided was of ONE gentleman who wore a firearm on his hip on the Town Square. He fails to mention nor realize that this gentleman "open carries" most places he goes and not just during a pandemic. It is his right to do so in Wyoming. He wasn't making a specific point nor threat regarding masks that I was made aware of. There has been zero violence regarding masks reported on in Teton County and so Pete Muldoon's suggestion that there was a threat of it was baseless and hyperbolic.
As the dialogue on Pete's page continued there were suggestions made, with no moderation from him, that I would be personally responsible for all deaths going forward and one person even mentioned the possible death of one of my own children. Not once did Pete step in to moderate, as a public leader nor simply as a decent human being. Thankfully another individual spoke up regarding the disgusting comment about my child dying and suggested the poster delete the comment.
What Pete has instigated with his post and the ensuing dialogue is disgusting and unbefitting of a public servant and human being in general. He has not only cast me as the sole person responsible for the perceived "lack of safety" in this town, which is rich considering his support of large gatherings when protests are at the center of them. He has also attempted to put me in the ranks of white supremacists at a time when doing so could very well endanger myself and my family, also rich considering I am born to an immigrant from South America. Lastly, he has suggested that I appealed to those of a violent nature to gain support for a public records request regarding health orders. That is not only false, but the worst misrepresentation of who I am as an individual, professional, and mother.
I didn't think it was possible to have even less respect for the character of our Mayor, but this tops it. I will do everything I can to support those who will make sure he will not take office in the Town of Jackson again. His behavior online, in email, and other communications is reprehensible, childish, and downright cruel and dangerous at times. A few days ago I spoke to a previous local politician and the words they used to describe Mayor Muldoon was a "sociopath" who had no "empathy" for others. At the time it felt like an extreme description. Now, I am not so sure.
Sadly,
Gloria Courser
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