Thorsby mayor, Rod Raymond, wasn’t mincing words.
In a letter he penned to the community published in the Thorsby Target on March 27, Raymond called out people he said may have spread COVID-19 in his community.
“To the pinhead who returned from vacation without going into 14-day isolation, and came into the town office to inquire about their water bill; you exposed our staff and forced the closure of the town office,” he wrote.
“What is the matter with you people? Don’t you care about anyone else but yourselves?”
Raymond stressed the need to support local business during the pandemic and urged everyone in the area to practice social distancing.
“Take your heads out of your rectum and think about what you are doing,” he wrote. “Stay two meters away from everyone and do not share self-rolled, stinky smokes!”
Raymond told Global News he stands by the strongly-worded letter and toned it down before it was published.
“It was meant to be embarrassing.”
The mayor of the small community, about 70 kilometres southwest of Edmonton, said he was angered after hearing some people haven’t been taking self-isolation rules seriously.
“What is the matter with you people? Don’t you care about anyone else but yourselves? Fortunately, no one encountering you has shown any symptoms yet,” he wrote.
“To the young people, having a fire, a few drinks and passing a ‘doobie’ around; what the crap are you thinking?”
Not everyone is the community is impressed with the way the mayor’s letter was worded.
But Raymond said he was speaking out to protect workers and local business in the town of 1,000 people.
He said there is only one grocery store, one meat shop, one hardware store and one drug store, and if a shop is forced to shut down because of exposure to the virus, then they are all “hooped.”
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“I figured I’d have to be pretty rude,” he said, “and actually get people to back away from the staff that actually wait on them, that was really my intention.”
Raymond stressed locals in Thorsby don’t have the option to run up the street if one shop closes; he said the only option would be to drive to the city.
When asked about concerns over the way his letter was worded and the tone, Raymond said he has heard more positive feedback than negative.
“If anyone has a problem with it, they can call me and I’ll rip them a new one.”
The mayor said he doesn’t pretend to be diplomatic and he had to “wake everybody up.”
He said he would continue to write weekly updates to residents in the area and he hoped he didn’t have to call out “dumb people.”
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