To the Editor:

Owen Wyss, an employee of the city of John Day Public Works Department, actively campaigned in opposition of the leadership of John Day City Mayor Heather Rookstool and then filed a recall petition against Ms. Rookstool.

The basis for this petition is without proof and merit. 

Here’s the nice thing about living in the United States in the 21st century, as opposed to 18th-century France. We don’t have public executions by guillotine just because Madame Defarge has knitted your name on her political kill list (and has an insatiable appetite for revenge).

Lucky for us, Mr. Wyss has not been appointed judge, jury and executioner in this matter. The body determining whether any of the claims have merit are the electors residing within the city limits of John Day.

I have had a couple of disagreements with Ms. Rookstool. She has always listened to a different point of view. But here’s the thing about Heather. She has integrity. She’s an unpaid volunteer who contributes her time (hundreds of hours a year) to serve on boards and committees. She has been unfairly treated and targeted for having the courage to stand behind her convictions.

The city of John Day needs a strong mayor and city council to navigate through the myriad projects on their plates. What is not needed is more of this.

Targeting public officials with meritless claims and filing recall petitions may be in vogue in certain circles but it accomplishes nothing. This recall says more about the person that filed it than the person it was filed against.

Send a message to the signers of the petition to class up a bit and vote “no” on the recall of Heather Rookstool.

(Some language plagiarized from Nick Green August 24, 2022 BME.)

Charlene Morris

John Day

Due to an editing error, a statement by the author acknowledging that some language in the letter was copied from another source was inadvertently omitted. The letter is being republished with that statement of acknowledgment. The Eagle regrets the error.