My email stalker is back

A while back I mentioned that a local political gadfly/attorney/failed politician was sending me bizzare emails about my performance as an elected official.

Well, he's back.

Now he is comparing me to a guy named Peter Leonard. Leonard was a mentally challenged guy who got himself elected to the school board for a term in a fluke election. He was later arrested for sexually assaulting his underage cousin.

Oh, and he is indignant that I am accessing the internet during city meetings. Never mind the fact that our desks have docking stations and that the chamber has a wireless connection for the board, staff, and press. Never mind the fact that I can access past board minutes, state statutes, the city GIS system, and the Celtics playoff scores (well, let's not mention that last one). He thinks this amounts to dereliction of duty.

One more message to send to the county prosecutor in the morning, and one more for the bar disciplinary panels in Concord and Boston...

The county prosecutor is reviewing his messages. There is one where he threatens to disrupt a meeting at city hall, and that caught their attention. it might be hard to make it stick as a criminal charge, but I feel strongly that the attorney disciplinary system will take some type of action.

Are we talking someone who feels you "cheated" him out of a seat or someone from the opposition party? Why you? God, hope the prosecutor is on top of this.

I used to share office space with this guy, for about 6 months back in 2004-05. He has a very high strung, hostile personality, so I decided to go in a different direction.

He held the seat I currently hold for one term, about ten years ago. Since then, he has run unsuccessfully for mayor, state senate, ward alderman, and alderman at large. He has lost all of these races.

His last run for alderman was in 2005. In 2007, I beat the guy who beat him. This bruised his ego.

Earlier this year, he was involved in an effort to hound a very young school committeewoman from her seat (this seems to involve him following her home from work at 2 AM), and thought that he could get himself appointed to the vacant position. When I made it clear that he was not going to get that position, he snapped. Since then, he has threatened to "out" me as mentally ill (I have been treated for depression, something I don't conceal), told other attorneys that I was reprimanded by a conduct committee (never happened) and repeatedly made very crude and insulting remarks about my wife.

And yes, he is a Republican.

But here's the odd part. In the current debate over the city budget, he's actually taking a more "liberal" position than me, in that he wants to preserve the jobs of the good old boys at certain city departments. I've been pushing for a reorganization of city government and for more intensive oversight of city services. So, my instincts as a wonky, fiscal hawk, Tsongas Democrat run smack into the old political culture of this town.

and hammer it hard. If he's not "in" with the cops too, get his ass sent to jail. I know, small town jails aren't always the same thing, but it might just cool his heels for a bit. Good luck to you on this and let us know how it goes.

If he's stalking you, this could be actionable.

The prosecutor is conducting an investigation, and the bar disciplinary authorities are being sent the info. The messages were all sent to a governmental email account, not to my private address, so there is no reasonable expectation of privacy involved.

I was stalked live and in person by a man a number of years ago, and it's freakin' scary.

I hope the powers-the-be do something about this.

I wouldn't wish it on anybody.

And even knowing that I could physically defend myself against her wasn't much help because I never knew who she was. She found me in an internet chatroom and she knew all about me, my roommate's name, my birthday, everything. I knew she lived in the same building (in Seattle, called the Wall Street Towers or something now, back then it was the Grosvenor) , attended the same school, and she said she walked by me all the time in the halls and has bumped into me etc. She got violent in the chatroom too. Really weird. I think she had access to my apartment, like that she worked at in the complex office or something. Stalking is a harrowing thing. I didn't really fear for my life, but I was nervous she might try to stab me or something crazy like that. What got me was that she could have been anybody. Every woman I walked by at school or in my building could have been her, and I never knew it.

And it IS horrifying. I hope the OP gets this effectively taken care of ASAP.

his fucking ass!

grrr.

You're doing good keeping record of everything etc.

Thought about this last night/this morning and wondered if you got a RO on this guy, wouldn't it also keep him out of town hall meetings and the city office where you work? That would be some sort of poetic justice, wouldn't it.

Frankly, a judge would be reluctant to issue one for a couple of reasomns. First, the NH statute requires that I essentially be fearful. I'm 5'11", 225 lbs, played football in high school and was an Army infantryman. Tough sell. The second part is that I am an elected official, and because of 1st Amendment issues, courts are reluctant to start mucking around in this area.

I'm focusing on filing a complaint with the attorney discipline boards. I'm sending them all of the emails, and I am going to obtain copies of some remarks he apparently made on his local access cable show which echo his email messages.

Frankly, what the guy needs is a decent psychiatrist. He clearly has anger management issues and probably a lot more. Unfortunately, he is one of those types who sees mental health as a way to riddicule people, so I won't hold my breath waiting for him to seek help...at least not voluntarily.