Last night, at a special meeting, the Common Council appointed Ryan Wallace to replace Calvin Lewis as Third Ward alderman. Immediately following the vote, Wallace was sworn in by city clerk Tracy Delaney and took his place on the dais for the rest of the special meeting, most of which took place in executive session.
Wallace, who will be an uncontested candidate for Third Ward alderman in November, submitted a letter of interest to Council president Tom DePietro and the rest of the Council on July 4, two days after Lewis's resignation was made public. He was the only person to do so. In March, Wallace was appointed to the Zoning Board of Appeals, a position he will now have to resign. COPYRIGHT 2021 CAROLE OSTERINK
Seriously? Ryan Wallace spit in my face last year (height of the pandemic) after I gently tapped into his car trying to pull out of a tight spot on Warren. I had never met him before the incident. One witness was so disturbed by what he saw he rang 9-1-1 before I could unbuckle my seatbelt.
ReplyDeleteHi Carole - it was great to see you at the meeting last night. For the record, my resignation to the ZBA was submitted last night via email to the Mayor and Chairman Kenneally.
ReplyDeleteRyan Wallace is smart and able to work with others to accomplish realistic goals...he is a welcome addition to the Common Council.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't sound like he's a very friendly person.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, the first commenter may have exaggerated her account.
DeleteShe "gently" knocked into him? He "spit in [her] face"? At what point did she start to unbuckle her seat belt, and why then at that potentially late moment? What did she actually say to him? Was it apologetic or infuriating? Did they already know one another, perhaps in the ZBA context? Was there a prior disagreement?
Take the word "spit" as a verb, which is an intentional act of ejection. If the fellow didn't spit deliberately, though, and only ejected Fauci's "droplets" during his excitement, then he may have showed poor judgement in a pandemic but it's the commenter who'd be twisting the account to her own ends.
Did he "spit" at her, really? I doubt it, but the fact is WE WEREN'T THERE! Nor do we know anything about the onlooker who phoned 911 (did the HPD respond?), or what it would normally take that individual to dial 911. Perhaps they're disturbed by all men in most circumstances, e.g., A man is being rude to a woman! Call 911! There's an abundance of nut jobs out there, and these days a call to 911 doesn't indicate anything.
We'll never know the whole story, but the way in which the first comment is written above, how the words are arranged - I was gentle, he spit - there's enough reason not to make any judgement based upon it.
We should give the target of that comment the benefit of the doubt.
Or not.
DeleteWhy don’t you just ask me? Or if you think I don’t know what “spit” means (I am a lawyer and get that words have meaning), there were 3 witnesses who provided statements to the police. Or maybe just ask Mr. Wallace how many hours of community service he was required to perform as part of his plea?
DeleteMs. Heinz, I don’t know you and I don’t know Mr. Wallace. I’ve never even heard of him before this.
DeleteBut if you’re prepared to destroy someone’s reputation – and perhaps deservedly; I’m okay with that – then your first comment was far too tendentious for such a purpose. (If required community service was a consequence of his actions, that would have bolstered your account somewhat.)
But even now, the mere claim that you know the definition of “spit” evades my distinction between the noun, “spit,” and the verb, “to spit.”
Again, mightn’t it be more accurate to say that he “spittled” on you, as with Fauci’s droplets? I asked as much above; you chose not to answer. (Last year, inadvertent spittle alone could have resulted in community service.)
The additional knowledge that you’re a lawyer who’s just evaded my question only weakens your argument further. Rather than address the question – spit versus spittle – you’ve wasted keystrokes asking why I didn’t simply ask you the question?
These are lawyerly gimmicks, rhetoric, when you’re attempting to destroy someone (someone who may deserve it for all I know). That’s just not good enough.
Now I’d really have to have seen the incident for myself, absolutely. Perhaps your memory is true, but you’ve had a year to think about sinking this fellow and yet all you’ve achieved in my mind are doubts about your own account.
Spit/Spittle? Ridiculousness. It’s pretty cut and dry here. No one should be yelling at a person on Warren Street. Regardless if they like each other or not. It’s out of control behavior by anyone. I’m thinking that if she is putting it out here there’s a pretty good chance it happened. I’m sure Kristal understands the word “slander” or “liable” pretty big risks for a lawyer to take. An out of control person is scary enough but a grown man out of control is even scarier. Maybe some anger management is warranted.
DeleteGood Morning Kristal,
ReplyDeleteI've been following the comments here. I wish I could say that I have been surprised by the overall lack of support you've received (Although clearly you don't need support from anyone - you are strong enough on your own.) or the fact that YOU are one initially disbelieved.
It continues to be a disappointment the way things work in both small and big ponds. They all end up as mud puddles. I've taken more than my share of shivs to the back by, hmm, what are the right adjectives, "influential", "powerful" men. . . only to have their actions "explained" (read: "rationalized") by the boys.
I'm anxious to see how this plays out. And I am hoping you have more support than you might know.
Susan
Thank you, Susan. I cannot say I'm surprised by the lack of support. We're living in a very ugly time wherein people feel emboldened to behave poorly.
ReplyDeleteA member of our City government spit in my face (not droplets, but a full on spit), and I think the public deserves to know.
It’s precisely in such ugly times, with almost daily examples from casual ad hominem calumny to outright and unwarranted “cancelling,” that judgement should be suspended until better information is available.
DeleteNow that you clarify that you were truly spat AT, which precludes any other interpretation, then such behavior is certainly beyond the pale no matter the disagreement between you. No question about it.
As long as someone’s reputation is at stake, though, we owe it to each other to be sticklers with the details. As a lawyer I’m sure you can appreciate that.
545PM The silence from City Hall is getting louder and louder.
ReplyDeleteOh, and look! There's that bothersome, little creature, Hypocrisy . . . skipping down the middle of Warren Street.
Although I'm certain the boys, the new boys, who promised to be So. Much. Better. than the old boys, are working it all out.
Susan
But why did Mr. Wallace spit at her? Ms. Heinz conveniently neglects to tell us. I don't agree at all with spitting at people, but Wallace is our HOA president here at Mt. Ray....he is courteous and conscientious and not at all prone to losing his temper.
ReplyDelete