There is more than one way to be informed in this town

To the Editor:
This letter is in response to Ms. [Brigitte] McAuliffe’s letter published on the Enterprise website. We “reappear” again because, as we said, elections matter, especially local ones, and we want to show our support for those that lift this town up, work well together, and will continue to move this town forward.

For our “fact-checking neighbor” Ms. McAuliffe, we would like to fact check you in that we never said that Vas [Lefkaditis] did everything himself. We said through his “…efforts to help….” Help; to assist, to guide, to aid.

He has, and that is a fact, helped with everything we stated in our letter. We know that so many people currently serving and who have previously served are to thank for also helping with these accomplishments. I think most people understand what we meant and don’t take every little word and sentence so literally.

Ms. McAuliffe made the sign with profane imagery and wore it proudly in 2019. How is any of that a lie? Maybe the term “profanity-laced” was a bit strong, but that is besides the point. And if this editor thought that term was so egregious to the point of committing libel, she could have asked for us to change it, which she did not.

She instead opted to display pictures of the sign for individuals to form their own opinion. Our point in all this was that Ms. McAuliffe tried to come off as taking the high road by saying “…dissention is not negativity.” Yet, forgets that she disparages the supervisor and still referred to him as a “jackass.”

Through imagery, sure, but nonetheless, still profane, negative, and childish. We aren’t afraid to admit that we could have chosen some better words to describe the sign, but we were not going to let the voters forget that negative behavior displayed.

There is more than one way to be informed in this town. If only going to board meetings was the definition of being “informed” then I’m pretty sure no one currently serving or that has previously served, is/was ever an informed citizen in your eyes.

We apologize that we could not attend meetings since 2020 due to the COVID pandemic, as we were putting our last child through high school, making a living for ourselves, and caring for my mother in Knox (who is over 90) to ensure she is safe and healthy. If those reasons make us an uninformed citizen, then so be it because I will never apologize or feel bad about those reasons.

Do you want some attendance award for going to so many meetings? I’m sure we can arrange that since you make that point several times. And you do realize “firsthand knowledge” can come from directly talking to those who serve and are (still) friends with?

Also, for the record, [Councilwoman] June [Springer] and I are still friends, especially since there were no lies. Not sure why she was even mentioned at all? This strange tactic to try and turn two friends against each other is laughable. I look forward to June’s continued work on behalf of all of Knox.  

Sue VonHaugg 

Knox

Editor’s note: This letter was written in response to a letter from Brigitte McAuliffe, “We can’t afford any more time with incompetent people at the helm,” posted to The Enterprise website on Friday, Oct. 29.

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