Some defend Ed Kunkel over sign controversy, others speak out at Lacey council meeting
Lacey City Council on Thursday heard a mix of public reaction to the recent campaign sign controversy involving council members Ed Kunkel and Lenny Greenstein, both of whom were caught on video last month as Kunkel removed a campaign sign that wasn’t his.
The sign belonged to Emily Clouse, a District 5 Thurston County Commission candidate. A lot has transpired since the incident: The council last week entertained a motion to censure both council members — a motion that ultimately did not pass — and then Kunkel later publicly apologized on his personal Facebook page.
The council on Thursday heard from those who support Kunkel, those who took issue with the censure vote, and those who said the council did not go far enough.
Michael Jameson, who said he has served and worked with Kunkel, called him a man of integrity and chalked up the whole incident to a misunderstanding.
“It wasn’t done with any malice aforethought,” he said. “It was confusion and that’s the conclusion I have come to.”
Joann Fletcher reminded those at the meeting that everyone makes mistakes and that what transpired was a minor mistake.
“He’s a great man, a humble man and if you don’t know him you’re missing out,” she said about Kunkel. “He’s a great person and he would do anything for this community.”
Nic Dunning, who is running for Kunkel’s seat on the council, said there was a lot of blame to go around.
He took issue with the council, saying he wished they had allowed public comment during last week’s work session and had done it before the censure vote. Dunning believes the council still needs to take some sort of action, he said.
He also addressed council member Michael Steadman, who had an excused absence on Thursday, saying Steadman, who is running against Clouse, failed to make clear that he had nothing to do with the sign incident.
Dunning said Kunkel’s removal of the sign cannot be tolerated and that Greenstein, with his years of experience on the council, should have understood the situation better.
“It put you in just a bad light,” he said.
Dunning also said he was disappointed in Deputy Mayor Malcolm Miller and Mayor Andy Ryder’s votes not to censure.
“The community needs better in the future,” he said. “It deserves better. Public trust and our democracy depends on it.”
Spencer Zeman, who is running against Greenstein, said he, too, was disappointed in the council for its vote not to censure.
“Our city council did not take a stand when they should have,” he said.
“Servant leaders set the example, servant leaders accept responsibility for there actions, and servant leaders care, and I’m not seeing that right now,” Zeman added.
But resident Scott Goodwin contended that the censure vote should never have taken place.
“Having a city of Lacey council member call for a motion to censure a fellow Lacey City Council member was uncalled for,” he said. “Then to have another council member second the motion was totally unnecessary. Acting without knowing all the facts of the story and trusting a media hit piece instead was a total disgrace.”
Both Greenstein and Kunkel were asked by The Olympian if they wanted to respond to Dunning and Zeman.
Greenstein declined to comment.
“I am 100 percent in support of the First Amendment,” Kunkel said. “People can come in and speak however they wish. He had an opportunity to speak how we wished and he got what was on his chest off his chest and good for him.”
Lacey council member at center of campaign sign controversy apologizes on social media
Lacey City Council votes 4-2 not to censure Kunkel, Greenstein over campaign sign removal
Video shows Lacey councilman removing candidate’s sign. ‘That was my mistake,’ he says
