FENWICK ISLAND – A mailing list being circulated on social media continued to draw criticism from residents at a recent council meeting.
Last month, a Facebook account using the pseudonym Fenwick D Towne posted photos of a list featuring nearly 30 individual names with the heading, “Suggested Changes Or Deletions To The Snail Mail List.”
Next to each name is a number, as well as a reason for the suggested changes and deletions. Reasons include “pro commercial,” “strange person, does odd jobs for council members,” and “supporter of hotel.”
In response to the social media post, a handful of residents came before the town council on May 26 seeking answers. During public comments, resident Bill Mould said his name had appeared on the list alongside others.
“I have a document here that’s been circulated in the town, it’s got my name on it and a number, 386. I don’t know what the number is,” he said. “There’s about 20 or 25 people’s names on this list, and apparently it was generated by someone in town government. It’s not very flattering for those of you who want to take a look at it.”
Mould said the list featured names of residents affiliated with members of the previous town council. He urged officials to find out who was responsible for creating the mailing list.
“Somebody took the time to put people’s names on here that apparently was after, or shortly after, the latest election,” he said. “I know most of the people on this council. I hope they didn’t have anything to do with it, but I’ve got my suspicions. In our quiet town of Fenwick, we are certainly out there with the federal government in terms of our own little ‘Peyton Place’ here.”
Former councilman Bill Weistling said he was also named.
“My name is on the list. Bill Mould’s name is on the list. The reason Bill Mould’s name is on the list is because he is a friend of Bill Weistling,” he said. “We have another resident that lives down on Dagsboro Street whose name is on the list because he’s a ‘strange person.’ I don’t know what the hell is going on here.”
In a statement shortly after the list was posted on the Fenwick D Towne Facebook page, business owner Tim Collins shared his concerns regarding how his name on the list related to his dismissal as chairman of the Fenwick Island Board of Adjustment.
“If this posting can be determined as legitimate the obvious question is – what is the source that generated it,” he said. “The danger is in that answer.”
In an interview last week, Mayor Natalie Magdeburger denied claims that the mailing list posted on social media was generated by the town.
“It is not a town list,” she said. “The best I can make out is it appears to be notes from someone in town going through a mailing list of the campaign two years earlier and providing insight on who to send mailings to.”
She continued, “I think every campaign out there has similar lists. So it is not a town list, and in fact we have spent an lot of time expanding how we contact our residents, regardless of how they voted in the most recent election or the election two years ago.”
Magdeburger said the list first circulated on the Fenwick D Towne Facebook page. She claimed the same account had posted false statements regarding bike usage and dancing in Fenwick.
“I don’t know who Fenwick D Towne is, I don’t know where he came up with this list, and I don’t know how that came to be and why he would spread it around as what is conveyed as a hit list,” she said.
Magdeburger argued the list was taken out of context.
“Please look at totality of these Facebook postings,” she said. “Everything on there is basically a political satire on the current council and making statements that just aren’t true. Unfortunately, people look at it and think that it is.”
