The Shadow
Welcome back, Shadowers! Christmas magic is upon us once again, with wonderful Cantatas honoring Christ, and little snoopy dupes eagerly hunting down secret Santa stashes and crowing out the countdown clock every 5 minutes—8 days till Christmas!
In a scene worthy of a farewell tour no one bought tickets to, ousted Covington Mayor Tom Sibold and Vice Mayor David Crosier took center stage at the December 10th council meeting to air grievances, sprinkle praise, and serve up a steaming hot plate of finger-pointing figgy pudding—mostly directed at The Shadow and the Virginian Review.
Apparently, democracy didn’t quite work out as they imagined, and instead of accepting the fact that voters made their intent loud and clear, the Mayor and Vice Mayor resorted to blaming fake local investigative reporting for their undeserved electoral demise.
However, one Shadower wasn’t buying their BS, and summed up their spewing diatribes quite nicely: “The closing remarks by the Mayor and Vice Mayor were an insult to their constituents. Stating that they [the voters] were fooled or tricked into believing the officials [Sibold and Crosier] were dishonest? Fooled by the facts? The FOIAs? Quite a display of sore loser and sour grapes. Blaming everyone but the people ultimately responsible for their actions, themselves. The Mayor’s remarks directed to Councilwoman—elect Wolfe directing her who to speak and listen to were just unbelievable. Kudos to Wolfe for not taking the bait on a hot mic. The Vice Mayor ignoring his successor after the adjournment was pretty obvious, too. Neither gentleman nor any of the speakers offered a welcome or kind word to the incoming council-women. No worries, ladies, the constituency put you there because the Mayor and Vice Mayor have acted like this openly, and your community has had enough.”
With a few repeated reminders that “honesty is the absence of the intent to deceive”, Mayor Sibold doubled down on his belief that outside forces and shadowy opinions are to blame for all his woes. Sibold hinted at calls made from outside the city to control conversations and decisions, painting a bizarre picture of a grand plot against his now doomed legacy. The mayor also took a swing at “deceptive” articles, lamenting that “people who don’t even live in Covington” dared to comment on local leadership.
“If you want to see the truth, watch the Journal. Jerry will give you the truth. Uh, if you want to get somebody’s opinion, watch the Covington Virginian. Uh, very seldom do you get the truth, but you do get an opinion.” But the Mayor didn’t stop there. “Uh, I’ve never seen anybody that could take information and turn it around in a way that’s just a flat-out lie.”
Vice Mayor Crosier agreed verbally. The Mayor continued. “But that’s okay, and if you don’t understand everything I’ve said tonight, all you got to do is read the Shadow cuz he will tell you what I said tonight next Tuesday in his words… in his words not not anybody else not not mine. You’ll get his opinion and uh I think it’s time we just, you know work on shutting that down. I don’t have to worry about saying anything anymore because I’m not on Council so I can say what the heck I want…”
You go, guy. But you forgot one thing…
Was anyone else watching the City Attorney’s face apparently drain of color faster than a bank account on Black Friday while the dynamic duo handed out one bold accusation after another before the meeting was adjourned?
When elected officials speak in an official capacity during a public government meeting, his or her words aren’t just their personal words—they belong to the city, and are immortalized in the minutes. This means when one starts lobbing defamatory accusations at private citizens or businesses, it drags the taxpayers and the city’s legal team down a slippery slope called “Libel.”
So, yes, Mayor Sibold, Vice Mayor Crosier, The Shadow will report on what you said. Mr Mayor, here’s what you said, word for word: “…if there was any deception anywhere that was them and that would tell me they’re dishonest.“ Mr. Vice Mayor, here are your exact words: “I’ll call him a liar.”
Well, thank you, Mr. Mayor and Mr. Vice Mayor, for those final, parting Christmas gifts you gave to your voters. Nothing says “season’s greetings” like dragging the city into your personal grudge match and legally exposing it by calling a news outlet dishonest, accusing it of spreading lies, and calling the publisher “a liar.”
And if the Mayor and Vice Mayor’s farewell speeches are any insight into their next big adventure, it seems they’re trading public service for a full-time gig in petty vengeance. Their newfound free time now appears laser-focused on “shutting down” the Virginian Review—because nothing says graceful exit quite like declaring war on our hometown newspaper.
Adieu, Adieu.
Last week, it seems the Shadow had too much eggnog and got a couple of things wrong. Thanks to my ever-vigilant Shadowers for holding me to the fire and correcting the inaccuracies. First, the Suicide and Crisis hotline is 988 (and not 998). And apologies for pinning the Clifton Forge Christmas parade closure on Mayor Jeff Irvine. He reached out to the Virginian Review: “I didn’t call it off… we as council members don’t have any say on it. I wasn’t even told about it until that evening and it’s strictly Main St’s decision, not ours.”
I’m out of time, and out of coffee, but want to leave you with an oldie but goodie from the classic movie “Polar Express.” Just remember, the true spirit of Christmas lies in your heart. And for those kids on the edge of not believing, “You have to believe to receive.”
