South Portland City Councilor Jocelyn Leighton no longer represents the city she is supposed to serve.
Leighton’s seemingly never-ending quest to attack dog owners put her hostility to thousands of SoPo residents on display in shocking remarks last week.
Her latest assault occurred during the May 17 City Council meeting, where she proposed an amendment to slash another hour of off-leash dog hours at Willard Beach. The proposed amendment would give off-leash dogs one hour in the dark from 8-9 p.m. for a grand total of three out of 24 hours off-leash per day. What a compromise!
Leighton somehow felt the urge to offer this amendment now – nearly a year into dozens of meetings where the issue seemed resolved. This council seems to make its living from late-night amendments. It was an ill-advised amendment last year to ban dogs from neighboring communities that started this whole mess.
But Leighton did not stop there. After doing the bidding of a few privileged beachfront homeowners, she accused thousands of dog owners in the city and 1,100 members of SoPoDog of being white supremacists. That is appalling commentary about a broad swath of our community. No elected official should ever behave in such a derogatory manner toward members of the public they serve.
Leighton also accused dog owners of bullying for boycotting businesses. Guess what? That’s how a free market works. If you’re a business owner and you support an unpopular ordinance, prepare to lose business.
There are two open City Council seats this year – one because a former councilor abused her position to bully a trans woman of color who was a customer of her business. Ironic, Jocelyn?
I urge everyone insulted and appalled by the actions of this council, including the latest property tax hike, to run.
Steve Silver
South Portland
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