Election mailer riles public comment
An election mailer paid for by
Whitefish City Councilor Phil Mitchell drew extensive public
comment Sept. 19 at the council’s regular meeting. The mailer was
received by Whitefish residents last weekend.
On one side it shows the faces of three
candidates in the upcoming city elections, including mayoral
candidate and current councilor John Muhlfeld, and councilor
candidates Frank Sweeney and Richard Hildner. Bold text says “Their
way created so many problems before, why give them a chance to do
it again?”
The other side of the mailer shows a
copy of Mitchell’s recent opinion piece in the Whitefish Pilot
responding to another Pilot opinion piece dubbed “The Whitefish
Way” signed by mayor Mike Jenson, among others, endorsing council
candidates.
A dozen people spoke about the mailer
during the public comment portion of Monday’s council meeting and
some asked Mitchell to take them off his mailing list. Joan Vetter
Ehrenberg asked Mitchell why he would send out a mailer against
council candidates he may have to work with if they are
elected.
Sam Neff said he was “dismayed” and
that the mailer put the city back into negative campaigning.
Councilor candidate Doug Wise donned a
“Harry Potter” sorcerer cap and called for more “r-e-s-p-e-c-t”
during this election season. He didn’t address Mitchell’s mailer
directly, but said every one needs to respect each other and their
opinions.
“59937,” he said, noting Whitefish’s
zip code, “that’s our community and our neighbors.”
Mitchell responded to the public
comment at the end of the meeting. He said he has the
Constitutional right to share his opinion through the media he
chooses.
“I felt the need to respond to [mayor
Jenson’s] opinion,” Mitchell said, referring to the “Whitefish Way”
opinion piece. “The brochure is well-documented and truthful.”
Councilor Ryan Friel, who sits next to
Mitchell at council meetings, called out Mitchell for the mailer
and said it was disrespectful and referred back to Wise’s call for
respect.
“We can agree to disagree on a lot of
things,” Friel said. “I don’t see the way you presented that as
respectful, as a coworker. If I presented that, you would have
chastised me.”
He said it wasn’t representative of the
Christian way.
As elected officials, Friel said, “we
are to hold ourselves to a higher level, you didn’t do that.”
Jenson responded to Mitchell by saying
the “Whitefish Way” opinion piece he signed was an endorsement of
candidates, which was different than the mailer.
“I didn’t sling anything at anybody,”
Jenson said.
“We disagree, and that’s fine,”
Mitchell said as the meeting closed.