Ashley Fogg campaigns alongside her husband, Pete, at the Annual Town Election on May 15. PHOTO/JOHN CARDILLO
Ashley Fogg, who ran for School Committee as an independent in the last two elections but did not win a seat, wants to see changes from the Hopkinton Democratic Town Committee.
Fogg was the target of critical comments left under election-related stories at the Hopkinton Independent and HopNews, and last week it was revealed that many of the comments were posted under various aliases by HDTC chair Darlene Hayes, who resigned after being exposed for her behavior.
Hayes issued an apology on Monday. Asked for her reaction to the apology, Fogg shared the following.
I am grateful that Darlene has publicly apologized to our community. Regrettably, I don’t see my name in the apology and that’s really disappointing.
Darlene’s behavior (both online and not) has left a gaping wound in our town, one that is going to take a long time to recover from, if ever. Darlene’s apology is only the first step. The HDTC needs to take a hard introspective look into their organization and fix the systemic issues if it ever hopes to continue as a viable political organization in Hopkinton.
Hopkinton has lost trust in the HDTC and its members. They continue to turn a blind eye to the division and hostility they have caused for many years in Hopkinton. The democratic process for volunteer positions has been summarily destroyed.
To have any chance of moving forward with any integrity or trust, the HDTC should do the following:
Put together a new HDTC policy that condemns divisive, harmful attacks online or otherwise, AND hold their members accountable. Make this new policy public;
2. Publicly apologize to Holly Morand, School Committee member and Hopkinton resident, for the mistreatment and attacks she had to endure after supporting my campaign;
3. Investigate and make public your findings into the coordinated efforts of the HDTC and the HTA [Hopkinton Teachers Association] during the election;
4. Ms. Hayes needs to resign from all elected positions, and the Select Board should be asking for her resignations immediately.
Darlene’s apology may be a good start. But the HDTC needs to put in the work to rebuild Hopkinton’s trust. Otherwise it will just be business as usual.
Sincerely,
Ashley Fogg
Those who are concerned about the current state of local politics here in Hopkinton need to consider what is next. The silence could mean many things but the adversarial responses are extremely alarming. This moment while challenging offers an opportunity for transformation and growth – but we need cooperation from those in power. Do we bring these concerns to the next HDTC meeting? Do we write a formal letter? Ask for an open forum with HDTC leadership? I think there are a tremendous number of people who are ready to help!
Ashley, you received a written apology from Darlene, right? She personally came to your house to deliver it to you..
If Darlene did deliver an apology to Ashley’s home, that’s great. However, the general public has no way of knowing this, and Darlene’s public apology seemed scripted and vague. Not trying to minimize her private apology to Ashley, if that did indeed happen, but it was extremely obvious how Ms. Fogg’s name was absent from Darlene’s public statement. Just saying…
Neither I nor the HTA communicated with Darlene or Hopkinton Democrats about this issue or any issue. Neither I nor the HTA will comment any further.