Mayor Demands Civility from Others While Personally Being Petty

I’m choosing to remain anonymous, not out of fear of disagreement, but because it has become clear that our mayor’s way of handling criticism is to ignore it, diminish it, or cast doubt on the person raising it. That approach hardly fosters an environment where residents feel comfortable speaking openly.

In the most recent Town newsletter, produced by staff and paid for by taxpayers, the mayor decided to lecture the community about “negative campaigning.” She also slipped in an unnecessary jab at this newspaper by placing the word newspaper in sarcastic quotation marks, as though simply supporting other candidates and questioning her record disqualifies it from existing.

This might have landed differently had she made even a single effort to respond to months of outreach from the editor and primary writer of this publication. Multiple invitations to comment, clarify, or participate went unanswered. Not one reply. Yet now, after the election has concluded, she suddenly has plenty to say, mainly to take aim at someone who attempted, repeatedly, to include her perspective.

What makes her dismissiveness even more puzzling is that this publication has been far more evenhanded than she suggests. It has acknowledged her strengths and given her credit where she has earned it. It has also highlighted areas where her leadership has fallen short. That is what accountability looks like.

Rather than engaging on the issues, the mayor chose to attack and delegitimize the messenger.

This behavior isn’t new. During the campaign the mayor made statements about candidates that were, at best, misleading and, at worst, flatly untrue. She routinely cast disagreement as hostility, framed criticism as personal attack, and labeled oversight as negativity. It’s an effective tactic for anyone who wants to control the narrative without having to defend their choices. In this dynamic, she is always the victim and never responsible.

Springdale deserves leadership that doesn’t hide behind the language of “civility” while refusing to model it. The Town newsletter should inform residents, not serve as a platform for settling political grievances.

If the mayor truly wants unity, openness, and respect, the path forward is simple: demonstrate the same honesty and accountability she expects from everyone else. Until then, residents should not be discouraged from asking questions, seeking transparency, or publishing independent journalism, particularly when that journalism has proven to be far more balanced and responsive than the elected official who chose to dismiss it.