Message from Pinedale Mayor Matt Murdock
by Matt W. Murdock, Mayor, Town of Pinedale
July 23, 2021
To the Town of Pinedale,
In the course of governing the Town, we will inevitably address controversial topics making decisions that upset someone. Seldom do we ever make everyone happy. We work to make the process as transparent and public as possible, publishing announcements and agendas in local media, and we make multiple opportunities for residents to speak to us or throughout our public meetings. No matter what you may think, we the electeds and the staff sincerely work to make the best laws for the good of the town.
However, many times information gets misunderstood or twisted and then passed on, especially in our fast-paced world of social media. What particularly saddens me is when criticism becomes attack and attack becomes personal – especially when that criticism attacks our hard-working staff who’ve been tasked by me and the Council. The five of us elected Council members signed up for the scrutiny and the criticism, (we sometimes ask ourselves why) and I can attest after 8 years of being on Council that we all genuinely want to do well by Pinedale. Town staff on the other hand is employed to carry out our decisions and policies, advising us when and where they can, and as Mayor I am very proud of our staff – they have been a major blessing to all of us and continue to make the Town a better place. But personal attacks on them for doing their job is malicious, unjust and unacceptable, undermining their effectiveness and willingness to serve.
Which is why it distresses me that social media and "keyboard warriors" have been so brutal and false in their attacks on our Planning & Zoning Administrator – Ronnie Tambourine – over the discussion of food trucks. Ronnie was the best and most qualified applicant for that post, and I was pleased to offer him the job in February 2021. His qualifications, character, interests and background made him a great pick for a community facing increasing growing pains. There are many challenges coming to our community that we as a Council are working to mitigate and guide for the growth of Pinedale while protecting what makes Pinedale so special. He and the rest of staff work to provide advice and help on issues we – your elected officials – task them with. To carry a disagreement over policy into personal, visceral attacks on a man and his family is wrong and is the worst aberrant from what makes Pinedale so wonderful.
The latest controversial topic, food vendors, has been on our list of topics to treat for over a year, since the 2020 Rendevous when major gaps in our code become apparent. The work we’re now doing to amend that code is a result of watching how the 2017 code has played out. Someone may disagree with how the new code is being drafted but to personally attack Ronnie, who joined the Town after we began working on this topic, is not only mean, but also wrong. Ronnie has worked hard to get us the best information possible so that we may make the most informed decisions. Which is why I’m writing to say -
Thank you, Ronnie, for your hard work and your commitment to a better Pinedale. (and thank you, Maureen, Abram, Amy, Kevin, Spencer, Emily, Anna, Olivia, Ron, Lance, Justin, Michelle, Mary, Josh, Randy, Grover and Ken.)
Sincerely,
Matt W. Murdock, Mayor
Matt Murdock
Mayor, Town of Pinedale
(307) 749-0615
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