May 27, 2004

Board of Selectmen

Bethel, Maine

RE: Bethel Citizen Article

Dear Board Members,

The Bethel Citizen and editor-correspondent Michael Daniels published an article in the May 27, 2004 edition of that newspaper which purports to describe a conversation between myself and a Bethel couple that recently occurred in the town office. What follows are my observations and version of events.

This couple came to the office in late March and asked me to intervene with the Telstar school district on their behalf. For background, these were people who befriended me last summer when they first moved to Maine and rented an apartment next door while their house was under construction. They had many questions about Bethel and I did my best to welcome them to the area. We became neighbors and friends and engaged in amiable chat on a number of summer evenings in the backyard.

During their office visit in March, 2004 they told me that their daughter was being repeatedly harassed on school grounds to the point of sexual assault. They stated that school officials were doing nothing in response to their complaints. Thus, they asked me to get involved. In the course of conversation, I referred to their daughter’s assailants as “idiots and morons.” This comment was directed at the assailants, not the entire student body.

The conversation then shifted to the dismissal of the Police Chief. When asked why he was fired, I stated words to the effect of “when the store clerks called 911, the dispatchers at South Paris started looking for the Bethel Police Department and Darren and Phil were sitting in the police station jerking off and not answering the phone, those guys tried to argue that the phone didn’t ring but that was bullshit because all the records had been checked again and again and everything showed that the phone was operational.”

… I am naturally upset. During an office visit, I spoke on an informal basis with people whom I considered to be friends. They had come to me for help with a serious problem. I spoke candidly and crudely but did so with an assumption of confidentiality. As it turns out, these people were secretly recording the conversation. There is clear evidence that these people had been in contact with Darren and Haley Tripp in the days leading up to their office visit. I believe that the former police chief had full knowledge of their office visit and its purpose beforehand.

As for the May 27 article, writer and editor Michael Daniels chose to avoid publishing my comments in anything resembling a full context. A fair, objective article would have drawn a complete picture of the conversation within which I made my comments. An objective article would have identified the prior relationship between myself and the couple who came to the office. An objective article would have identified the connection between this couple and the Tripps. An objective article would have identified its sources. Yet, Daniels, an otherwise good journalist, didn’t do any of this and instead chose to deliver biased coverage via the Bethel Citizen with the clear intent of destroying me.

… With regard to the newspaper’s call for my removal, … I will not voluntarily resign.

… I am truly sorry for the hard feelings and anger in the public. …

Respectfully,

Scott G. Cole

Town Manager