Editor, The Smithfield Times:

The views expressed in this letter are those of the author only and not those of the Department of Defense.

I want to thank Jim Collins (“Smithfield Town Council Candidate Q&A,” Aug. 14) for bringing the public’s attention to the plague of “keyboard warriors” that have descended on Smithfield with their evil cries for transparency. Since I am composing this letter on a keyboard and advocate for transparency, I will assume his ire is aimed at people like me. 

Contrary to Mr. Collins’ assertions, I have numerous facts to support ethical questions related to our various local governments. He can find many of them at www.windsortransparencyforum.substack.com. There he will find articles about pedophiles being quietly removed from schools, stolen campaign signs, people appointed to Town Council who barely did more than write their name on the application, and, yes, questioning the ethics surrounding Mayor Steve Bowman’s jaunt to Florida to see a man about a donation. All of these tales of woe are sourced through original documents or reporting. 

I do my best through the Freedom of Information Act, but any public official with half a brain and a broken moral compass can maneuver around FOIA. I should also state that I don’t publish rumors, though I hear many. And God help us if even a fraction of those rumors are true! 

Mr. Collins, without merit, stated that people like myself do this for “personal gain.” Well, if being called a racist (thanks, Mr. Michael Vines) or threatening to have me investigated by the U.S. Navy (thanks, Mr. Dick Grice), then yes, my keyboard-based weaponized transparency has afforded me many riches. The same applies to people like Renee Bevan, another evil “transparency promoter,” whom Mr. Grice (coincidentally, a political ally of Mr. Collins) also attempted to extricate from their livelihood.  

Lastly, I would like to remind Mr. Collins, Mr. Bowman, the Luter family and anyone else that none of your former professions or monetary gifts have bestowed upon you an ethical certification that grants you a lifetime exemption from scrutiny. Your reputation as an ethical person is evaluated with every decision you make. To insinuate that your prior military service, law enforcement service or donating a lot of money entitles you to a monopoly on ethical behavior is a line of self-serving nonsense that should immediately draw more scrutiny, not deflect it.  

We must continue to demand transparency and ethical behavior from local officials, despite the threats, until they change their ways or leave public service.

 

Lewis Edmonds

Windsor