Mapleton has had it with 'newsletter wars'
On one side is the Mapleton Coalition, which has actively targeted city officials for criticism over a myriad of issues.
On the other side is Mayor Dean Allen, the City Council and appointed city officials, who say a recent coalition newsletter crossed the line when it attacked a group of volunteers who have been working to raise money from private sources so that an enlarged city library can be included in the planned $2.1 million City Center that will become home to city government. The library could take up to one-third of the space if the needed $600,000 can be raised.
The coalition newsletter said, "The vast consensus of Mapleton residents . . . are in no mood to make additional donations to fund a library of dubious need in this Internet era." The newsletter referred to the volunteers as a group of local women "out with a tin cup in hand" after an effort that included soliciting library donations using a door-to-door fund-raising campaign.
Those caught in the crossfire say they are simply trying to
Volunteer Laurel Lopez doesn't like the controversy and felt slighted by the coalition's description.
"I went to 50 homes myself. I didn't get anything negative. They were all very nice," Lopez said of folks who answered her knock. "(Of course), I didn't have a tin cup or anything."
Karla Hjorth, who is on the volunteer fund-raising committee, called the coalition effort "sour grapes" over its failed efforts to get members elected to the City Council two years ago.
Hjorth challenged the accuracy of the coalition newsletter, saying it "twists facts" and is divisive.
"It's a slap in the face," she said. "It's hard to see people tear the city down."
The women were allowed to respond in the city newsletter to the coalition's criticism, asserting, "We see only ill feelings in our community, divisiveness and self-serving attitude among the critics."
The door-to-door effort raised $22,000 toward the library, Allen said. Fund-raising efforts thus far have netted $89,000 in cash and $110,000 in donated materials and labor, City Manager Drew Bradshaw said.
Bradshaw described the coalition as a shadowy group that hides behind a post office box number and never publicizes who it is in the newsletter.
"They shy away from the limelight," he said.
David Taylor, a coalition member, disputes that description.
Taylor said some of the coalition newsletter articles have bylines, others are prepared by the "editorial staff." He maintains there are some 40 residents backing the coalition.
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