The ominous note came in an envelope with an advertising bill.
Instead of payment, the sender included the message on personalized stationery, the kind of notepad one would use for a grocery list or a banana bread recipe.
It said: “What goes around comes around and you haven’t seen yours yet, but it is coming.
“May your days be numbered.”
This note was received at the Plaindealer office last week, from Ouray City Councilor Peggy Lindsey.
You might wonder who would send such a nasty message.
Even if her name wasn’t stamped on the top of the note, we would have recognized the handwriting, from previous Christmas cards in which the same loopy cursive said, “Thanks for all you do!”
This time, Peggy Lindsey’s hand wrote a much different message.
Lindsey, a Ouray city councilor, is angry about an article we published in the Feb. 22 edition of the paper.
The front-page article, “Police chief questioned accuser’s credibility,” told the story of what happened behind the scenes in the aftermath of an international media frenzy surrounding an alleged sex assault case purported to have happened at the police chief’s home while he slept. His stepson is one of three defendants in the case.
We filed open records requests to obtain communications showing the response by city officials, including the discussions about Police Chief Jeff Wood, before he was placed on paid administrative leave.
Part of these communications included Lindsey’s texts — most notably, one where she texted the chief, “And this 2 shall pass. I’ve seen the hot seat many times for many reasons. You will be ok,” she said, ending her text with a thumbs-up emoji.
After this, she texted with another party who sent her a link to the Plaindealer article about Wood being placed on administrative leave.
“We’ll see how it all plays out. I doubt you ever see him in a uniform again,” Lindsey replied. “He’ll find another job while he is on leave … hide and watch. It’s too small of a town to overcome this, I think.”
That’s what prompted this threatening note. And it’s not the first time she’s bullied us – when we let her know these communications would be part of the story, she threatened to cancel her advertising, a threat she later carried out. When we didn’t acquiesce, she attacked our work. Now it seems she’s attacking us, personally.
You might wonder why the article didn’t contain much communication from her fellow councilors. Simply put, they didn’t conduct public business via text, subject to release under Sunshine laws.
What does her note mean, exactly? We’re not sure, but it can’t be good. She’s either calling for our personal demise or the ruin of the Plaindealer. If a city councilor threatened another local business this way, it would surely warrant a story.
Our job requires us to act independently. That means when someone threatens us to try to affect the outcome of our reporting and prevent a story from being published, we need to move forward and do the job, because the priority is the public’s right to know. No matter how uncomfortable that may be sometimes, especially in a small community, it’s what we’re charged to do.
We can’t do our jobs in fear of losing money or being attacked. If we did, we would become paralyzed with all the “what ifs” and trepidation could color our work.
These kinds of sentiments from the disgruntled are an occupational hazard, one that comes along with the responsibility of holding the powerful to account.
You should know what your elected officials and taxpayer-funded governments are up to. That’s why the press is considered the Fourth Estate — the watchdog keeping an independent eye on the legislative, judicial and executive branches. And that goes for local governments, too.
Peggy Lindsey is representing you, residents of Ouray. And she didn’t want you to know this is how she was representing you, through these kinds of communications, as an elected leader.
The bottom line is public business should be done in public. Pure and simple.
When that’s not done, sometimes those who get caught lash out at the messenger – that pesky watchdog keeping the public informed.
And sometimes, they try to threaten and intimidate. It’s not going to work.
Erin McIntyre is the co-publisher of the Plaindealer. Email her at erin@ouraynews.com.
