EMAIL FROM MAYOR KENT STUDEBAKER TO BOARD PRESIDENt DWIGHT SANGREY
Dwight,
I offer my very sincere apologies for the confusion which a letter to Mountain Park voters has caused. But first let me say that Matt Palmer was in no way responsible for that confusion and any blame should never be placed on Matt.
Let me try to explain what happened here.
Mountain Park is an important part of this community and as mayor I go to great lengths to make sure that the residents feel included in decisions related to Lake Oswego and that they know I consider them a very important part of this city. It was for that reason (and in addition to the campaign flyers they receive) that I wanted a special letter to go to the voters in Mountain Park. Matt Palmer is a supporter of mine and a resident, and he said he would write a personal letter as a private citizen to voters there. He did that and signed a PDF of the letter and that was the last he saw of it.
Bear with me please as I explain the process after that.
The PDF of the letter went to the printer/ mail house to be set on stationery which we purchased. Since the letter head was very plain, a suggestion was made to make it more interesting. Hence the decision was made to put onto the letter head and the envelope the iconic Mountain Park entrance which is pictured on the web. The brick wall and the brown background of the entrance picture did not translate well in black, so the background was taken out, leaving the final image which was on the mailer. No attempt was made to make it look like the HOA image – in fact the people involved in the decision did not look at the HOA image until after the mail piece arrived and Matt called to express his concern. Any similarity between the mailer image and the HOA image was pure coincidence and innocently done. In no part of the letter text was the HOA mentioned and the HOA mailing list was not used. The list used was a registered voter list which we purchased at the beginning of the campaign and the stationery was all ours.
A lengthy explanation I know – but it may help to clarify things.
Once again I want to say how sorry I am for the confusion and to repeat that no blame should be laid at Matt Palmer’s feet. Matt did not see the final letter head or envelope.
I am passionate about this community and in no way do I want to offend any of its members. I look forward to working with everybody and I know that Matt looks forward to being an active member and participant in everything in Mountain Park.
Thank you all for your understanding.
Kent Studebaker.
The letter that was sent to the Mountain Park HOA (and forwarded to Mountain Park residents) over Kent's signature is a disgrace. To try and tell the people of Mountain Park that " No attempt was made to make it look like the HOA image" is an insult to their intelligence. I received one of the letters and until I examined it closely and noted the odd street address, the exact logo and font on the letter and envelope, and even color of the stationary, had me believing it was from the Mountain Park HOA: I have zero doubt this was by design.
ReplyDeleteKent should have stuck to the single term as mayor that he talked about back in 2012.