Small Town, Big Silence, One Very Bad Email

You know those moments when a single sentence tells you everything you need to know?

Yeah—this is one of those.

Buried in a routine email chain, Frog Prell dropped this gem:

“let’s not send it right away – let’s sit on the response for a week or 10 days…” – City Attorney

And he didn’t send it into the void.

That message went straight to Jim Paine (D) and Rebecca Scherf—with Starr Bowers in the loop.

That’s not a typo.
That’s a strategy.

Then Reality Hit: David Menton

Fast forward to now.

David Menton is dead after a police shooting.

Witnesses say it looked like it was over—until it wasn’t.

The state is investigating.
The public is demanding answers.
And suddenly, that email hits different.

Because now the question isn’t just:

“Why did this happen?”

It’s also:

“Can we trust anything we’re told about it?”

The Email That Aged Like Milk

Let’s break down that quote like it’s a bad line from a 90s cop movie:

“Let’s sit on the response…”

Translation:
Delay transparency and hope the problem solves itself.

That might work when someone’s asking about zoning permits or potholes.

But when a man dies in a police encounter?

That mindset doesn’t just look bad—it looks dangerous.

Who Said What… Or Didn’t

Here’s the part that sticks like gum on your shoe:

We know what the City Attorney suggested.

We know who received it.

What we don’t know is what happened next.

• Did Jim Paine (D) push back?
• Did Rebecca Scherf say “maybe that’s not legal”?
• Did anyone hit “reply all” with something resembling accountability?

Or did the silence say everything?

Because in government, silence isn’t neutral.

It’s endorsement with manners.

Meanwhile at City Hall: “Look! A Firehall!”

While residents are asking about civil rights, body cams, and due process, the Superior City Council is out here celebrating a firehall like it’s the grand opening of Disneyland.

Nothing says “we hear your concerns” like…
cutting a ribbon and smiling for the camera.

And over in the mayor’s office?
Meetings about utilities.

Because nothing calms a shaken public like a deep dive into water rates.

Pattern Recognition (Or: This Isn’t Just One Email)

Let’s connect the dots like it’s a conspiracy board in a Mel Gibson movie:

• Email suggests delaying records responses
• Sent to top city leadership
• Now a fatal shooting under scrutiny

At what point does “coincidence” start looking like the culture?

The People Doing the Work (Hint: Not in That Email Chain)

Teachers show up every day and actually serve the public.

City workers grind to keep things running.

But somewhere between City Hall and the inbox, leadership turned transparency into a “we’ll get to it” task.

Right next to cleaning out the garage and returning Blockbuster tapes.

Trust Is Hard to Build, Easy to Delay

Here’s the thing about transparency:

You don’t get to flip it on when things go bad.

You build it before—through actions, habits, and yes… how you respond to records requests.

So when people see an email about delaying responses on purpose, they don’t think:

“Totally normal.”

They think:

“What else are they sitting on?”

Final Crossing Signal

Superior doesn’t just have a police shooting problem.

It has a credibility problem.

And that email?
That’s not just a bad look.

It’s a receipt.

Because when the public asks for answers after a man dies, the last thing they want to hear in Superior is:

“We’ll get back to you… eventually.”

#ReleaseTheTape
#LawyerUpFast
#TransparencyMyFoot

11.08.2023 Email