TWO types of people we have no desire to see taking part in local politics are bullies and cowards - and even less so when it's one person who fits both categories.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But we can think of no other way to describe the lowlife who last week mailed an anonymous letter to Bathurst councillor Jacqui Rudge attempting to blackmail her into quitting council.
The letter was sent to Cr Rudge's home and carried no mention of the author's name. But it was not so short on detail when discussing of Cr Rudge's previous attendance at Bathurst's Panorama Clinic seeking help during a tough time in her life.
"Your last visit to [the] mental health hospital has not achieved a solution," the letter stated.
"... Written in confidence, however, if not acted on in the next seven days this will be made public as it is a disservice to the community in your current condition.
"Please be advised people are aware and it needs a solution."
The letter was grubby, cowardly and bullying. We can only imagine the person who wrote it is exactly the same.
But Cr Rudge, to her enormous credit, refused to be intimidated and has instead used the letter to shine a spotlight on mental health issues and encourage others who are doing it tough to seek help.
She argued, very rightly, that mental health issues were no different to any other health issues and if you needed treatment, you should seek it.
The sheer class of her response could not have been further from the dim-witted crassness of the original letter.
And it clearly illustrated the stark difference between those people we want to see engaged in public life and those we would prefer remaining hiding under their rock.
For someone to believe in 2020 that there should be any great stigma attached to seeking help for a mental health issue is staggering enough.
But for that same person to seek to use that misguided belief to blackmail an elected representative is beyond the pale.
Cr Rudge has not yet said if she will run for council again in September, though she has made it clear she will not be quitting the current term.
If she does run, though, she has now shown her true colours to the many Bathurst voters who may have wondered what she stood for. And we expect many will like what they have now seen.
