You say "white trash" likes it's a bad thing....

When I firsted started this site about a year and a half ago, I came up with the name ("The People's Republic of Seabrook") as an homage to the contentious nature of local politics. Seabrook may be a small town, but at times it seems, politically speaking, a smaller version of San Francisco. The late Herb Caen used to refer to San Francisco as "Baghdad by the Bay". At times you could say the same about Seabrook.

The latest episode in our on-going political drama involves Seabrook City Councilwoman Margaret Kidd Duncan. Of course, I should begin by making my own personal bias clear. From where I sit, Duncan has proven herself to be a self-superior, inflexible, insensitive, racist, and intolerant troll, completely devoid of class and dignity. Other than that, she may well have many wonderful qualities, but if so they're well-disguised.

Being a member of the Seabrook City Council does not exactly confer one with royal status. Duncan, however, seems not to have grasped this reality. Her term in office has been marked by anger, utter disdain for who elected her, and a complete inability to stomach those who disagree with, or worse, do not defer to her.

And then she really did it....

(1/07/03- SEABROOK, Texas) — A city councilwoman who swore at police officers during a traffic stop resigned from her post as mayor pro tem, one day before council members were set to vote on whether to remove her from the job.

Councilwoman Margaret Kidd Duncan cursed at two Seabrook officers and a police dispatcher after she was pulled over Dec. 20 for speeding and running a stop sign.

Duncan, 40, is accused of violating the city charter, which states that council members should deal with city employees through the city manager to keep members from giving directives to employees, the Houston Chronicle reports in its Tuesday editions.

Mayor Robin Riley said council members could censure Duncan or start the process to remove her from office at Tuesday's special meeting.

Monday, Duncan admitted her actions were wrong. And while she quit her job as mayor pro tem, she said she would not resign from the council, a post she was elected to in May.

Ah, the "Trent Lott Strategy". Someone should remind Ms. Duncan that this strategy has been proven ineffective and not terribly entertaining. She seems to be about to discover just how many people she has alienated. I imagine there will be more than a few of us taking no small amount of glee in watching her twist in the wind.

In taped telephone conversations with police dispatcher Shannon Swatman and Sgt. Sean Wright, Duncan made expletive-laden demands that they immediately contact Police Chief Nona Holomon.

Duncan told Swatman and Wright she was mayor pro tem and the stop was retaliation for her support of the Houston Port Authority's planned $1.2 million container and cruise terminal in the Bayport Industrial District.

Duncan was recorded telling Wright, "You're harassing me on behalf of our white trash mayor, Robin Riley, and those white trash people on council."

Wright said he and Charles Skinner the officer who pulled Duncan over told Duncan that they didn't know who she was.

She responded, "Of course, you do. I'm white. There's one woman on the city council. I'm a white woman on the city council. You know who I am. Everyone in town does. Everyone in the Clear Lake area does."

Duncan's personal political paranoia gives a hint of the degree of arrogance with which she carries herself. First of all, she assumes that she is important enought to harrass. Second, she assumes that she is above the law, and entitled to special treatment because of her exalted position. The Seabrook Police are a pretty reasonable bunch. If they pulled her over for speeding a running a stop sign, my suspicion is that is exactly what took place. Period.

Finally, and most importantly, you do not, whoever you happen to be, refer to a policeman as "you f*****g hillbilly" repeatedly during the course of verbally abusing him for simply doing his job. This sort of behavior would be despicable enough from any citizen. That this is a City Council member who is guilty of this egregious abuse of her office should be reason enough for the rest of the Council to retire her from her position immediately. How Ms. Duncan feels that she is still entitled to represent the people of Seabrook is almost beyond comprehension. We deserve better, and we clearly are not going to get it from Margaret Kidd Duncan.

Frankly, it's time for Ms. Duncan to crawl back into the swamp she came from- if there is one who will have her. She is a disgrace to Seabrook, to the City Council, and, worst of all, to herself. That she seems unable to see that is perhaps the biggest tragedy of all.

Date: Tue, 7 Jan 2003 04:50:55 -0800 (PST)
From: "Jack Cluth"
Subject: unsolicited but sensible advice
To: mkduncan@seabrook-tx.com

If I could offer one word of advice to you, it would be this- RESIGN. Now. Your actions and your appalling verbal abuse of a Seabrook police officer have demonstrated your unworthiness to hold the position that you do. You are a disgrace to your office, a disgrace to the people of Seabrook, and worst of all, a disgrace to yourself.

Your utter disdain for those you represent, your intolerance of dissenting opinion, and your sense of entitlement have convinced this Seabrook resident that you are no longer fit for office. Seabrook deserves better than your self-righteous, inflexible, racist attitude. For your own good, resign now before the people of Seabrook recall you. It's been done before, and it can happen again. Spare yourself the embarrassment.

What a f*****g moron....

UPDATE: Susan tells me that our next-door neighbor's 11-year-old boy was cited by a Seabrook police officer for using the word "bitch". He faces the choice of paying a $500 fine or doing 455 hours of community service. Ms. Duncan received no citation for her outburst. Apparently, being an 11-year-old in possession of a profanity is a crime. It would seem that being an abusive bitch in a position of power is not.

Is it just me, or is that the Double Standard Alarm I hear clanging in the distance?