"...but if you could please give me a holler..."

Voice Mail Message to Marla Miller from Evan Pearce June 15, 2007

Good Morning Marla. This is Evan Pearce, it's Friday about 11:40ish the 15th. I was calling you because, well it's in regard to the potential field rental, playground rental, usage for our community groups, kind of a barbeque/potluck meeting in the, you know an outdoor meeting, not really a meeting just an outdoor get together for the community group and the neighborhood itself, and, I spoke with Joni, the office manager there and she put me pointed me toward Mark Zandberg and the reason I'm calling you is because I remember Mark Zandberg article that ended up in the Beacon and View pretty vehement about his opinion regarding our group and [laughter] so call me jaded, paranoid or whatever but it just seems like he's probably not the best person to deal with on something like this it didn't seem like he was very objective in the article, so at any rate if you could give me a holler that would be great 206-6X3-1X90 hopefully I'm not sounding [message faded out] everybody, again, it's around 11:40 on Friday, we're looking for availability on the 24th of June, that's a Sunday, I think it's the day before the last day of school, but if you could please give me a holler I'd appreciate it. Thanks, hope you're well, talk to you soon. Bye bye.

First, his name is Evan Pierce, not Evan Pearce. A simple check with Google or Edmonds City Council minutes would reveal the correct spelling of his name.

Second, this call came in on June 15th and my Letter to the Editor appeared in late March. Didn't Mr. Pierce read the rebuttal by the superintendent? Apparently, I had nothing to do with the Old Woodway transaction and my position was merely a clerical function. Clearly, the position is clerical now, though I would have thought Outlook, Word and Access would have been in a secretary's arsenal of software packages.

Third, my last day with the District was June 11th. Didn't an announcement go out to office managers? If a supervisor even had a morsel of an idea as to what department staff did all day, one might think to notify office managers of such news.

Fourth, Mr. Pierce does acknowledge that my views were an opinion. I am impressed. Though he does share that he felt my opinions were not objective, but then opinions seldom are. That is why most people use the term "subjective".

Fifth, how can voicing an opinion render a person incapable of reserving a playground? I find it amusing. But then District leadership felt the same way, which is why constructive termination had to come into play. If I had anything questionable in my past, the District would have used it.

Finally, the Mayor of Edmonds spoke at a RE/MAX luncheon just after this letter ran in the Beacon and expressed his support for the comments that I had made. He also went on to say that Marla supported my position privately, but of course couldn't say so publicly. Not that I was seeking her support, but clearly her position requires that personal thoughts and objectives be left at home. Why couldn't she retain such a policy when putting together a real estate transaction with Raskin?