Councilman Pape and I

There are several posts in the blogosphere about a conversation I had with Councilman Pape before the last City Council meeting. To date I have not posted about this conversation; because, it was not a big deal.

That being said several other people are posting and commenting about it; therefore, I thought I would set the record straight.

Here is exactly what happened in my 30 - 45 second conversation with Councilman Pape before the City Council meeting.

I was minding my own business with four other people in between the City Parking garage and the City County Building. This group included Jennifer Jeffrey, Dan Turkette, and Kody Tinnel.

Councilman Pape and Council Shoaff walked by on their way to the Council Meeting. Councilman Pape peeled off and walked up to me.

He got relatively close to me (six inches away I would guess) and was somewhat angry.
He said several things:

1. He told me that he would be happy to meet with me in person and discuss my concerns.
{Note I have no reason to doubt that he would meet with me if I asked him to}
2. He told me that I was making "unfounded accusations" about him on my blog. (He was referring to one post I made that you can find here:
<http://allencountylp.blogspot.com/2007/09/tim-pape-and-harrison-square.html>
{After re-reading my post I stand behind it 100%. I stated things that are undisputed facts that have been published in local newspapers and that are undeniably true. I also still think that Councilman Pape has a perceived conflict of interest and should have recused himself from the vote.}
3. He then pointed at Dan Turkette (AWB) and asking him if he was Reinking.
{I assume he was referring to Ron Reinking, a local CPA}

Basically I told Councilman Pape that he was wrong and that I was only reporting facts reported in the local media. I did not get particularly angry and I certainly spoke in a quieter and less aggressive tone then Councilman Pape.

All of that being said; Councilman Pape did not act in a criminal or abusive manner. He was certainly a little rude and a little loud; however, that is the way some people are when they are having a bad day.

I am not particularly offended by his actions; however, I was a bit surprised when he came up to me...

I am glad that I was not also having a bad day; because, then we could have escalated into a major argument and that would not help accomplish anything.

Mike Sylvester