Arlington, Oregon (The Weekly Vice) - The sleepy- small town of Arlington Oregon has a 5 alarm fire blazing. It isn't a house or business that's on fire, but rather the Mayor's office. To be more accurate, it's the mayor herself.
Arlington, a town with a population that barely caps 500 residents gained national attention when racy photos of the town's mayor, Carmen Kontur-Gronquist, were found on her MySpace personal page.
The images included a picture of Mayor Kontur-Gronquist pictured in nothing more than a black bra and panties in front of a town firetruck. They were found on her MySpace page and captured by the local press (KATU - Portland) who aired the story.
While Mayor Kontur-Gronquist's MySpace page has since been set to 'private', the Mayor refuses to apologize for the images and insists she did nothing wrong. It's been established that the photos were taken and posted before Mayor Kontor-Gronquist was elected to her position.
"That's my personal life," she said. "It has nothing to do with my mayor's position. I'm not going to change who I am," she added. "There's a lot of officials that have a personal life, and you have people in this community who have nothing better to do than scrape up stuff like this."
The town's people are more concerned with the town's image than they are the policy issues behind the pose. Mayor Kontur-Gronquist doubles as the fire department's executive secretary, which provided her access to obtain the photos.
Town Councilman Jeff Bufton said he's heard a lot of negative comments about the pictures but declined to say whether the council plans to address the topic.
Some of the town's residence are speaking out to local media expressing their disapproval with the Mayor's choice to post the photos.
The Weekly Vice Reaction:
If it were Hillary Clinton in a bra and panties, we'd be outraged. But she certainly does nothing but benefit the town's image. After all, who would have thought a rusty old one buggy town like Arlington could have residents with abs like that? Take your pick...When you think of Arlington, would you rather think of farmer jack or Mayor Carmen? Case closed.
What is your opinion on this story?
Posts
11 comments:
She is an adult, with a life outside of politics. As long as her activities are not illegal, or do not effect her job, I see no problem with her pics.
I only have one thing I can say here. Wow. And if you come back and ask me in an hour, it will still be a wow.
At least it's not an old man in his underwear. Now that would be offensive.
First, she should have had her page set to private in the first place..did she learn anything from the Senator.. I mean the ACLU states that if you think it is private it is private.. :)
They are probably just jealous of her abs.
Look I'm almost 50yrs old, and I say if you got it, ya got it. So I say good for her, you see more than that at the beach.
Barb
There's no doubt about it. Her photos rarely draw a negative comment from outside of the town...
She may lose the next election...but no one can accuse her of any kind of "cover up"!
I wish I were in that good of shape...except for the bicepts..yuck..lol
I picked up the following quote from one of the town citizens who is angry with the mayor over her photos. First, here's the resident's statement. Then I'll share my response.
"The pictures were taken in a public facility and it's not right," Wilkins said. "She's associated these pictures with being mayor. That's not the representation that I want to see. People aren't laughing with us, they are laughing at us."
My Reaction...
First of all, bringing up the issue of where the picture was taken is a dead issue. The photo was taken with the fire chief's permission - and the photo was intended for a health and fitness contest from what I hear.
She CERTAINLY is fit... and good job to her by the way for taking such great shape of herself..
Secondly... The world is not laughting at you because of the photos. The world is laughing at you because of YOUR reaction.
The Mayor set her profile to "private" to satisfy you whining, unrelenting sob cases. Problem solved! Let it go.
I'm not sure it was necessarily wise to choose THAT photo to put on her personal page - however she's a single mom and has a right to develop a dating life. Millions of people use myspace or facebook pages to communicate with others... and yes, posting something that's a bit on the sexy side is fairly common.
There was no attempt to be lewd in the photo. Had the top and bottoms been a bikini, which reveals MORE, would that have worked for you jelly bellies?
I suspect the real issue here is that the mayor's opposition (all 10 of them) are using the issue to gain political leverage.
They don't like the mayor and here's their chance to bitch and moan. It has nothing to do with the town image, because quite honestly, seeing a small town keeping up with the times, insteading of rusting away like the old tractors in your back yard will only attract business and future residents to your town.
Knowing that single moms like her reside in that town, instead of what most of us would naturally assume lurks there - a beer bellied farmer bob - gives one a least a tiny bit of incentive to come check the town out.
My advise to the mayor?
Let the blow hards bluster in silence.. The world isn't listening to them. Stand your ground. We like to see women empowered to run cities while having a sense of humor at the same time..
If the Mayor was presiding over a whole state - well, it might be a little different. But those positions also are well paid, as the Arlington town mayor's position is not.
Keep your sense of humor Mayor. I'd certainly vote you back into office - just on your sense of adventure alone. =)
I'm sure most in that town are older, conservative people who rarely see women outside of a pair of overalls and straw hat. simpletons indeed.
wow, she was on the local news here.
A lot of stir for one picture...and the site is set to private anyway. I think she is due a personal life. She's very kind for sharing it with the rest of us, don't ya think?
Jeez
With bicep veins like that, she looks like a he.
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