I was in attendance at the Lewis County Republicans meeting on May 2. I listened as Sheriff Rob Snaza spoke to the audience about coming together and unifying the Republican Party. He also spoke about current issues regarding crime in our community and how he has been working with other elected officials, including state Rep. Peter Abbarno and Sen. Jeff Wilson, both of whom were also present. Snaza exemplified the utmost class and expressed his passion to serve his community.
What occurred later in the meeting was, in fact, disgraceful, but not in the way it is being portrayed by some. There is a video recording posted online which shows a heavily edited snippet of some of the verbal exchange between attendees, precinct committee officers and the chair of the Lewis County Republicans. This video is a poor attempt to show the actual instigator as a victim. Chair Brandon Svenson read aloud a letter he received from candidate Tracy Murphy in which Murphy claims Svenson had lied about him, and Murphy demanded an apology. What was not shown on the video was the fact that Murphy admitted to some of the facts Svenson had brought to light, like Murphy meeting members of the opposing political party while never attempting to meet with the chair of the party he claims to represent. Also not shown on the edited video released by Murphy’s campaign was when Murphy refused to admit to or deny that he is supported by the Lollipop Guild, whose founder, by the way, has contributed to the Murphy campaign, according to the PDC website.
After not receiving the apology he rightfully did not deserve, Murphy then attempted to provoke and verbally attack Snaza as he yelled at him across the room. Murphy appeared to try to hold his own one-sided debate as he insinuated that the sheriff and the sheriff’s office were liars for not updating information on a website. He further claimed that no one from the Centralia and Chehalis police departments liked Snaza. Others in attendance then stood up to show their support for Snaza and refute the childish and outlandish claims made by Murphy. These actions by Murphy so not support his claims that he would “rebuild bridges in our local and regional law enforcement community,” as he professes.
Murphy came to the meeting with the intent to create chaos and controversy. He acted in a provocative and rude manner as he sought an apology for things he either admitted to doing or refused to answer altogether. What he got instead was a unified group of people who merely tried to hold him accountable. Apparently, the only way Murphy can gather an audience is to show up to a meeting or event and cause a scene. This was nothing more than a political stunt to try to be relevant and garner attention. Shame on Murphy for provoking such a scene and then claiming to be a victim while blaming others for his own inappropriate behavior.
Sandy Bray
Toledo
