Writer supports Copeland, questions the timing of iPad use complaint

To the editor,

I am writing in support of Kecia Copeland, who is clearly willing to speak up, and ask questions of her fellow Bardstown City Council members and Bardstown Mayor John Royalty. It has been a pleasure to become acquainted with her through mutual friends in our community, and I have also learned a great deal from articles in the newspaper and stories on Channel 11 news. On a personal level, I have found Kecia to be open, honest, kind and deeply concerned about everyone in our city.

Several months ago, while waiting to have surgery at Flaget Hospital, we had a long conversation while she was waiting for her mother to come out of surgery. She loves Bardstown deeply, has many friends here and has a large, close family. On a professional level, she has dealt with the reality of being the only woman on the City Council who seems to be “singled out.” I have to wonder if this has to do with the fact that she has been willing to openly question the Mayor and his decisions.

She also spoken up strongly concerning recent events involving acting Police Chief Mattingly, and a stolen trailer he was using to haul his boat. Ms. Copeland was singled out concerning personal use of her iPad, even though other council members shared that they had “synced” their personal email accounts with the iPads they were given to use while serving on the council. During the November 1st meeting of the council, other members supported her and questioned why she was singled out.

As a voting member of this community, I am deeply concerned that one member of the council is seemingly being harassed and I wonder if that has to do with her willingness to question. Is this possibly discrimination because she is a woman, and an African-American woman? Or is it simply that anyone who questions the mayor may be targeted and personally humiliated in some way.

In addition to the questioning of her use of the city-owned iPad, there were packets of personal documents concerning her past that “appeared “at this meeting, to be handed out to the council members. Does this mean that every member of the city council and the mayor will also have everything they have copies made reflecting everything they have ever done in the past shared during a city meeting? And do we believe that every website found online is honest and truthful?

All of these recent actions on the part of Mayor Royalty and Chief Mattingly seem to be intended to discredit Kecia, and why is this happening so close to election day? What I have seen in person, on the Channel 11 news and discerned from reading articles in the local news media, is that Ms. Copeland has behaved professionally even when being unfairly attacked during council meetings. Yet is it not an essential tenet of democracy that all voices need to be heard and that we are all Americans?

Bardstown is a diverse community, and it is crucial that our city council be made up of members who reflect concern for all residents. I believe that our town needs to elect Kecia Copeland, who is a professional woman who served her country in Iraq, who is courageous, and is a woman who cares deeply about Bardstown and all its residents. The Council needs her, whether they think so or not.

Debra Galloway
Bardstown