Fred Contrada reports Sunday in the Springfield Republican on the Bill Dwight email in which WHMP radio show host Dwight engaged in Ad hominem attacks on the Bardsley for Mayor campaign the day after Bardsley won the preliminary election September 15 by 475 votes.
Contrada quotes regarding Northampton Mayor Mary Clare Higgins as follows:
Higgins, who has been the target of public scoldings by Bardsley supporters at recent City Council meetings, said she was not one of the recipients of Dwight’s e-mail and did not even know about it until Bardsley called it to her attention.
However, Higgins' personal email account was included in Dwight's original distribution list as follows:
clarehiggins"at"verizon.net.
See my original blog entry at: https://valleyadvocate.com/blogs/home.cfm?aid=10587
It is possible Higgins does not check her personal account or perhaps the account was disconnected and is no longer functional, however it seems unlikely that one of her staunchest supporters and closest friends would not have her current email address. Had Dwight sent the email to Higgins' government email address it would be subject to the Public Records Law so it appears Dwight was attempting to evade that issue. Nonetheless Dwight's intent is clear, he was sending the email to Higgins and to some of her closest supporters.
Thus while Higgins and Dwight have issued apologies, it is not clear whether they have contacted all those who received the orginal email in order to renounce its lack of civility.
