Problem Resolutions or Accountability for Mr. Tederick?

Thanks to your linking videos of government meetings to your stories, I watched the second attack by Matt Tederick on Walt Mabe, Darryl Merchant, and Royal Examiner staff. Listening to Matt reminded me that Matt opened his Interim Town Manager tenure with a lesson from the Biblical Peter – “service above self”. His later and varied positions were all alike for conduct contradicting that very Biblical message.

The list is long for his errors. Examples: breaking personnel law; politically allowing Crooked Run West to appear multiple times at Town Council when the developers did not have their plans complete, therefore, had no right to appear; what appears to fib at best about the operation of the Visitor Center. The list can go on.

No one held him accountable at any time. No one. Yet he waves the banner of wrongdoing about others who may have handed a report around, made remarks about each other or situations, then officiously threatens to return in January with more data particularly destructive to Walt Mabe. However, nothing the attacked persons ever did will match the harm Matt has done in his righteousness.

Matt has gathered up bits and pieces and turned those scraps into what registers as a high school play filled with angst. However, the nonsense and truths underlying it all are rather normal human yearnings, be they wise or foolish by the players. Still, Matt pushes on in his self-appointed mighty power to seek justice-making that high school romantic play with sub-plot fusses look like a polished philosophical treatise on life, womb to tomb. Yep. Should be a comic book instead but he takes it all so seriously forgetting his numerous tricks of his past.

His parting remarks at the Board of Supervisors meeting praised Tony Carter and Archie Fox. Yes, they did a lot of good yet there are stories true about each of them benefitting in different ways from being on the Board of Supervisors. I have nothing against either Tony who was always kind to me or Archie, yet I will not deny that they just as I am, are imperfect in their service, too. Yet no one can compete with Matt Tederick for making mistakes and hurting others and often innocent others.

Matt’s threat makes clear that he intends to publicly destroy Walt Mabe. I believe it would violate personnel law to make such destructive claims publicly from the podium at a Board of Supervisors’ meeting. This is also generating a great deal of angst in the community already having other difficulties.

Why doesn’t Matt continue in a Biblical vein to seek out his brother, Walt Mabe, privately and process the issues he thinks he has found about Walt? If he did, he might at least get one point for his “service above self” intro to the town. What does Matt really want? Is it hard to guess?

Is there no one to step up with wisdom and say, let us put this nonsense behind us – I say no more than has been said – and make amends with one another in an attitude of forgiveness? Let us meet to cite the positives instead, and what can be done to build on those. How do we work together to create a healthy and prosperous town? What are the substantive issues that stand in the way of doing that? Then, share in the work to create a community of safety, healthiness, and prosperity.

Linda Allen
former Front Royal resident