I am responding to a letter to the editor penned by Port of Centralia Commissioner Kyle Markstrom. I believe the public should be aware of some of the disingenuous hypocrisy within.
As an elected official, Commissioner Markstrom claimed in his letter he “always holds our county leaders to the highest standards, expecting them to support and lead our community with integrity and respect for all.”
Commissioner Markstrom went on about his manufactured outrage after attending the local fair and witnessing Lewis County Commissioner Dr. Lindsey Pollock campaign for reelection and exercise her First Amendment right to wear and display buttons featuring a cartoon depiction of herself as a superhero, a depiction originally created by a local independent satirical cartoonist.
Commissioner Markstrom further expanded on his personal belief that the artist who created this superhero depiction was someone he considers ”a left-wing activist,” a label I myself, an independent, am familiar with from local people who have never bothered to ask before going on pathetic tirades in the local newspaper about their mistaken beliefs.
It is unfortunate to see the same tired tactics used on this cartoonist for exercising her First Amendment rights.
Commissioner Markstrom prattles on that as an elected official, he signed up for a level of public scrutiny but claims broadly that all other public employees are exempt from criticism despite being the people responsible for ethically stewarding our tax dollars on behalf of our elected officials.
They work tirelessly to serve the public and they absolutely deserve our respect and support — but public employees are also subject to public scrutiny as the primary stewards of our tax dollars. If a public employee embezzles public funds, does Commissioner Markstrom believe that employees should be exempt from public scrutiny simply because they were an employee and not an elected official? Absurd.
Commissioner Markstrom is one of three Port of Centralia commissioners and has a responsibility to be a leader in our community. Yet, through inaction, he has chosen to align himself with a local activist who has made it a point to publicly disparage others while specifically invoking the Port of Centralia name and imagery in the process under an imposter page called the Port of Centralia 2.0. This is not just poor judgment; it is a failure to uphold the duties of Commissioner Markstrom’s office when he has been openly ignoring ethical complaints asking to protect the port’s allegedly good image, perhaps because they are connected to persons supporting his personal agenda.
To my dismay, Commissioner Markstrom, a staunch defender of ethics and integrity, according to his own letter, has completely ignored these ethics complaints about those concerns for many months now.
Commissioner Markstrom’s letter raises serious questions about his leadership ability. I find it deeply troubling that Commissioner Markstrom would go on this hypocritical tirade in the local paper while continuing to support through inaction the work of an activist who has shown such blatant disrespect for people as the Port of Centralia 2.0 page has.
Kyle Wheeler
Toledo
