Editor’s note: This letter has been edited for length and content.
Dear Editor,
I am very disappointed at the scurrilous, defamatory attack which Teresa Omelus has launched on me, our mayor and the people of Harrison in response to her rejection as a councillor. I’m even more disappointed that she seems to be a supporter of the mutineering councillors in her attacks on Mayor Wood. Even at the start of the by-election, she had claimed to be a supporter of law and order rather than the “buddy system” of local government. I feel quite deceived and I now regret having given her the time that I did.
Let me clearly state that I am not a millionaire. Every dollar I have is a clean dollar earned by shrewd investments and the hard work of my wife and I over many years. I resent being compared in any way to the profiteers active in our village. Our RV resort was the only new business in Harrison for many years and has contributed enormously to the local economy, bringing in thousands of overnight tourists and many new residents. Yet she has the gall to attack me for doing so.
I am also accused of being skilled in reading, writing and comprehending the English language properly. Guilty as charged. I don’t need or want the ” dumbing down” of our bylaws.
I am definitely not a member of the ” old boys club” which has dominated our village council. I am dedicated to preventing these old boys from the further destruction of Harrison. I have confronted evil-doing, stupidity and illegality all my life and will continue to do so in defence of my community and democracy. As a councillor, I am sworn to uphold the law and I will do so, as required. The restoration of law and order and good, open governance in Harrison cannot be achieved with two verses of “Kumbaya” and a group hug. It will require Mayor Wood and I to stand up for what is right and proper.
John Allen
Harrison Hot Springs