“You make me sick.I don’t know anybody who feels sorry for you,in fact,quite the opposite.It’s business vs the rest of us and you are on the wrong side.Some other greedy business pricks took your home and you deserve everything that happens to you because of your pro developer/anti affordable housing stance.You are an enemy of the working class and at least partially responsible for local homelessness.We know who you are and we will not support you or any of your capitalist shenanigans in this county.Maybe you should move to Placer county,I hear it is the new republican asshole enclave.You should be warmly welcomed there.Good luck ignorant bitch”
A week or so ago, I opened my e-mail to find my first MEAN comment from a blog entry. I was taken aback by the anger the author conveyed and was confused by the motivation behind the message. Imagine, if this individual used the equivalent amount of passion for an interest they were in favor of versus against. What if this individual ran for office? How lucky would our community be to have another person who had passion and enthusiasm in serving?
It always surprises me the amount of energy people give to negative endeavors. I often chat with individuals who I believe would be excellent candidates for local elected positions. My encouragement is usually met with comments that are similar to “I already have too much to do” and “I don’t want to deal with the harassment”. I wonder how many qualified, empathetic, and passionate people do not serve because they do not want to deal with similar comments.
For me…at least I know someone is reading my blog. 
Of course this fine person declined to put their real name down. Maybe that fine individual should go enjoy the pleasures of socialism with his buddy Hugo. In other news…I didn’t realize that Hugo Chaves was such a huge fan of Yo! I can at least admire Mr. Enos for putting down his name when he offers his opinion.
It’s sad that some folks hide and attack from the dark. Yolanda, be glad that it’s only a nasty email or rude comment.
When I was on the City Council it went much farther than that and often still does. One time (while I was a City Council member) I was in the downstairs hallway at City Hall, attending a Planning Commission meeting. A very large man, one that I had never met was also in the hallway. This man started making some very nasty comments directed to me as he stood some 40 ft. away.
So I approached him and introduced myself, he responded that he knew damn well who I was and said I should go do a few “things” to myself. I stayed calm (I’m a former firefighter, Deputy Sheriff and Federal Drug Enforcement Officer) and asked what his concerns were. All I got was more nasty comments and then the threats started coming.
This man made a series of comments about knowing where I lived and how “we” are watching you and that I should be very careful and that I should “watch out” or “we will take care of you”. He explained that “accidents happen” and I better be careful. At that point I walked away.
It turned out this person was a current member of the Nevada County Contractors Association Board of Directors and the former Chair of the NCCA Board. So the next day I called and left messages for the current NCCA Board Chair and the NCCA Director as I wanted to talk to them about this incident to see if this could be cleared up.
My calls were not returned. I called again and left more messages and finally got the NCCA Director on the phone. The response from the Director was a bit of a shock because she asked me what I had done to anger the NCCA Board member. Seems it was all my fault.
I was the one that was confronted and threatened in City Hall, I was not the one yelling, I didn’t use foul language and I was not the one that made threats. So when the NCCA folks started off by blaming me it was clear that another approach was needed.
So I talked to police Chief Foster. He stepped in, had GVPD investigate the matter. Good news there was a witness to all this, not a friend of mine, no one that I knew, just a local builder that was also at the Planning Commission meeting and in the hallway at the same time. This witness stood up and backed up my version of the incident.
After the GVPD investigated this it was deemed important and sent to the Nevada County DA. The DA also investigated it, talked to the witness and those involved. Because the incident didn’t “get physical” the DA didn’t take the next step to file formal charges. But I did get a short apology from the NCCA Board member as he left a “sorry” message on my home phone.
This type of thing has happened a few times. After a couple of Planning Commission meetings where I raised issues about the need to follow the design requirements and the development code and CEQA requirements I was threatened. On two occasions I was threatened at Planning Commission meetings and later that same night my truck tires were slashed and a tree in my front yard was cut down. The next day someone posted comments about these incidents on the Union newspaper blogs.
These are just a few examples and are fact. This can all be confirmed via GVPD and the DA. These attacks happened. So I’m a bit “relieved” when all I get is nasty phone calls or mean emails or nasty comments posted on line.
It’s no wonder that citizens of our community don’t run for public office or get involved in what takes place at City Hall. It’s very sad that some can’t participate in a civil discussion on the issues, but instead attack the person or their home and property.
It sounds like the “Guitar Jesus” has struck again… He has spewed his vituperation over on Jeff Pelline’s blog. Jeff wrote about him(?) here: http://bit.ly/bZc2EZ
Yolanda: I just get people twisting facts on blogs, but you get true nastiness. I am inpressed.
[...] 2010 Uncategorized Leave a Comment Grass Valley Council Member Yolanda Cookson has a posting on her blog about receiving her first mean comment from a blog [...]
I call that a sign of effectiveness. Keep up the great work!
Barry,
I find it odd that you are “impressed” that Ms. Cookson receives “true nastiness,” while you are only able to achieve “people twisting facts on blogs.”
This reveals a victim mentality that is not conducive to public service. Something to thing about.
Michael
“think”
Some people get ‘keyboard courage’ … they say things hiding behind their keyboard that they would never say in person … God bless you Yo, keep writing … if people didn’t react one way or the other, you wouldn’t be doing your job … – SIN