July 11, 2017

At last night’s City Council meeting, Council Member Karen Thurman descended from the dais and delivered a long, bizarre, rambling, and hyperbolic speech from the citizen’s podium to her fellow council members (under the guise of being a “private citizen”).  Ms. Thurman lashed out at citizens that have criticized her, labeling them multiple times as bullies, hateful, divisive, and negative.  It was a personal attack, mostly devoid of any policy discussion.  Thurman sunk so low as to compare her critics to murderers of children and to bullies that prompt their victims to commit suicide.  Ms. Thurman’s  personal attacks were oddly juxtaposed with the quoting of passages from the Bible.

It is sad that Ms. Thurman finds it necessary to resort to personal attacks.  Ms. Thurman seems unable or unwilling to engage citizens in honest debate about the serious issues that face our city.  Ms. Thurman’s speech was nothing more than a transparent attempt to divert attention from her own unethical behavior (please see tomorrow’s post) and her sagging political fortunes.  Through her own actions, Ms. Thurman has lost the trust and confidence of citizens.  She has no one to blame but herself.  Citizens are the victims of the policies she has promoted while on Council.

Although sometimes blunt in our comments at Council and on-line, Milton Coalition supporters have always focused on policy and the comportment of Council Members in their role as government officials.  We have not (and will not) resort to personal attacks.  Furthermore, we are unapologetic about calling out and holding Council Members accountable for their bad behavior.  Our mission is to promote good governance, which often entails exposing poor governance and malfeasance.  We seek justice for citizens.  And we stick to the facts.

I urge all citizens to watch this video and to draw your own conclusions.   And if you have not signed our Good Governance and Smart Development petition, please click the following link:  Milton Coalition Petition

(Postscript:  Note that Ms. Thurman intentionally lists 2 home addresses at the beginning of her speech.  Ms. Thurman lives at the home on Tournament Players Drive and is renting/selling the home on Lake Bend Court, where she no longer resides.  See future posts for why this is important.  Hint:  These homes were once in different election districts, but now are both in Election District 1 . . . )

Advocating For Good Governance,

Tim Becker