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Opinion: Ruby Bowman--Mayor Bagley Should Respect Constituents

Several Longmont residents have written letters to the Times-Call about Mayor Bagley’s verbal attack on citizen Gordon Pedrow during the mayor’s closing comments of the November 19 city council meeting.
Typewriter opinion
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This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.

Several Longmont residents have written letters to the Times-Call about Mayor Bagley’s verbal attack on citizen Gordon Pedrow during the mayor’s closing comments of the November 19 city council meeting.  The Mayor’s confrontation with Mister Pedrow did not end with the adjournment of the meeting.  Mayor Bagley chose to pursue the matter with citizen Pedrow in the lobby of the city council chambers. I witnessed the confrontation.

Mayor Bagley’s physical demeanor during the tense exchange in the lobby was intimidating.  Standing within a few inches of Pedrow, the mayor towered over him, as he angrily delivered inflammatory accusations to Mister Pedrow.  Several times the Mayor used the word “bulls**t” in addressing Pedrow.  Mister Pedrow could hardly get a word in. 

Mayor Bagley’s offensive behavior toward a Longmont resident should not be tolerated by the Longmont community nor by city council.  City council passed a motion to learn more about ethics at a special meeting.  One agenda topic should be respect for constituents and their opinions.  Residents have a right to voice their opinions in the council chambers and feel safe in doing so.

Respect is a value that is important to many of us.  It means treating people in a dignified manner without tearing them down or insulting them.  Before Mayor Bagley passes judgement on others, he should first learn to respect his constituents and colleagues on city council.

Ruby Bowman

Longmont, CO  80501