Contrition and resignation: Seabrook official who cursed quits
I am not one to take solace in the suffering of another, unless that person deserves her fate. The fall of Margaret Kidd Duncan meets that criteria. The good thing is that the people of Seabrook made their feelings known, and she finally recognized that her choice was clear: resign or be resigned by the City Council. Yes, she said all of the right things in front of the cameras, but I'm still not buying it. A person as stunningly arrogant and self-righteous as Duncan rarely does contrition well. She needs some work on her act.
During an afternoon news conference, a teary-eyed Duncan said she wanted to publicly apologize for her actions.
"If I could turn back the events, I would. Accept my apologies, as I have no excuse," she said.
"I resigned my title as mayor pro tem, which I felt was the appropriate and gracious thing to do. And today, I resign my position on City Council. I think it's time that we move forward and deal with the issues facing this city. I'm not resigning because of public pressure. I'm used to dealing with pressure."
Duncan said she had embarrassed herself, her family, her friends and the council. Earlier this week she said she had apologized to the officers and dispatcher as well as to each council member.
Duncan no doubt quickly came to realize that the people of Seabrook were not about to let her actions go unchallenged. If Tuesday night's City Council meeting was any indication, a simple apology was clearly not going to end the matter. If she wants to paint this as a case of her famiily being abused, I'm not going to lose sleep. That's crap, but the bottom line is that she is gone, and we can get on with the business of running Seabrook.
She said Wednesday she changed her mind after family members received phone calls and letters regarding her actions. Her family, she said, did not encourage her to resign.
"I'm not willing to have my family attacked. The issue is with me -- not with my parents, not with my aunt, not with my boyfriend and not with my ex-husband. That's where I draw the line," she said.
Duncan said when she spoke to her ex-husband, who lives in Corpus Christi, he informed her that a story about her was on the front page of the local paper.
"I can't have casualties because of my actions. I should be the only casualty, not my loved ones," she said.
Whatever. Duncan makes a lousy martyr, but if she can rationalize her resignation as falling on her sword for the sake of her family, so be it. That doesn't change the facts of the matter or the end result.
"Everyone has painted me as being arrogant," she said. "At the end of the day, the police supported me in my election. The police chief is a friend of mine. I have apologized and I am hugely humbled by this."
No, Ms. Duncan; you still do not get it. "Everyone" is not painting you as arrogant. You have done that by your own actions from the day that you took office. You have painted yourself as an arrogant, superior, disrespectful, self-righteous bitch who would do Leona Helmsley proud. All that is happening now is that you are reaping what you have sown.
Goodbye. Your 15 minutes are over....
