To Mr. Jerry Webster, President of Citizens United in Forest Park,
I am in receipt of your invitation to participate in a mayoral candidate’s forum on Mar. 2. I will not be attending. My reasons are basic and resolute. The underlying mission of Citizens United in Forest Park is now, and has been since its inception, to undermine my office and blacken my good name. The group’s founder has been caught editing videos that record village council meetings and rearranging said videos in a way that attempts to blemish my character. This type of behavior does not bode well for an organization that purports itself to be impartial and unbiased, and in fact bastardizes your theme of promoting transparency.
Furthermore, you have also shown your partiality with several postings you have made on the despicable website (Forest Park Forums) that has become a trash container for chronic complainers. CUinFP has yet to behave like a respectable government watchdog group and is incapable of being unbiased or impartial. I have no desire to participate in any way, shape, or form with an organization that hides behind a fake cloth of good government when its true ambition is the assassination of my character.
It is widely known that many, if not all, of your membership is in opposition of me and everything I have done for this community. Participating in your forum would be akin to placing a “lamb in a lion’s den.” There is not one person alive with an ounce of self preservation who would attend under these circumstances. My resolve has not altered from the last election when I chose not to play a part in your forum, nor have my reasons changed.
I will, however, be participating in the decades-old respectable forum hosted by the Forest Park Review and Chamber of Commerce and Development.
Mayor Anthony Calderone
