Mayor Responds to Blog Post by Democrat

Mayor George Apel said it is against his nature, but felt compelled to do it anyway.

Apel on Wednesday released a statement responding to criticism directed at the Republican administration in a Vernon Patch blog posting by Democratic Council member Michael Winkler.

In the blog, posted on Tuesday, Winkler was critical of what he considers lax public disclosure, a paid intern at Town Hall and payments made to administrators for working long hours during recent natural disasters. He put a headline on his blog that reads, "Why Doesn’t Vernon's Mayor Apel Stop This Foolish Spending?"

"I do not like to engage in back-and-forth (in the media), but my concern is that some of the facts portrayed in the blog are not correct and I felt obligated to correct them," Apel said. "A lot of people can say a lot of things about me, but they can't say I spend taxpayers' money willy-nilly."

The full transcript of Apel's statement is attached in a PDF file. Apel addresses three matters:

• He said his administration has released all materials that were pertinent to all Freedom of Information requests made by the print media and council members. He said he included Vernon Patch in the "print media" term.

• The intern position was eliminated at the end of 2011, Apel said. He took office in November.

• Apel also explained in detail the storm wage payments.