By Brendan Ulmer
Ulmer Uninterrupted
Imposters live among us…on Facebook.
On Sunday, I noticed an odd comment under the City of Hutchinson’s Facebook post, clarifying that the Hutch Rec item on the April 21 city council agenda is not about cutting programs.
It had been reposted into Hutch Gossip, where someone commented: “Pretty scumbag move to post on Sunday evening, though. It’s the worst time to post anything citizens need to know about.”
This was not the comment I thought was odd. It seemed fairly reasonable and was posted by the gentleman under his own name.
The odd comment was a response to this man, posted by an anonymous account named SilverSalamander3879: “You saw it, didn’t you?”
I was struck by how defensive this person was of city administration and decided to check out their posting history.
SilverSalamander has only been in Hutch Gossip for a week and has only ever commented about Hutch Rec issues or stop sign policy. Their only standalone post: “Is hutch rec going under the city? I know other towns do it like that.”
Subtle.
The really telling clue, the clue that would let me bet my life that this is someone from the city, is the comments they left under this post.
They left a bunch of comments, each one more revealing than the last, complaining that the city subsidizes the rec and that they don’t pay for city-owned facilities where they operate. They’re all, to me, indicative of someone who knows a lot while also trying to pretend they don’t:
“Isn’t there a master plan they follow that we did a survey for? For all hutch parks and recreation together. Isn’t there a trails one too?”
So this person expects us to believe that they don’t know if Hutch Rec is going under the city BUT they know how other cities do it, AND they’re aware of the trails master plan. Curious.
Not only am I positive that this is either a city councilman (emphasis on man) or a city employee who has had troubles with Tony Finlay of Hutch Rec, my suspect list has been narrowed down to three.
I will not name them so I don’t besmirch the innocent. However, if they decide to grow a backbone and reveal their true identity, I will let you know.
NOTE: SilverSalamander3879 has now changed their name to SunnyEagle1646, and the “Is hutch rec going under the city?” post has been taken down.