By Graham city council member Bonnie Whitaker
[Editor’s Note: These comments are transcribed verbatim from a statement made by Graham city council member Bonnie Whitaker during the “council comments” portion at the end of Tuesday night’s city council meeting.]
Last month for the first time in four years on this council, I was accused of being disrespectful, of making faces, and I was lectured about honor. Let me be clear: I do not need a lecture on honor. I spent 25 years in the United States Air Force living it. I carried it in uniform, in service, and how I conduct myself every day, so if I unintentionally offended anyone, I do apologize. That was not my intent.
But what we are seeing now goes far beyond a facial expression. And let’s be honest about something: this chamber is not free of expressions. People react; people talk; people laugh, sigh, and show frustration during meetings. It happens in this room; it happens on this dais; it happens during difficult discussions. What matters is not a momentary reaction but how we conduct ourselves overall.
What we are seeing now is a shift away from facts toward narratives.
The park issue did not begin last month; it did not begin last year. It has been discussed since 2016. Warnings were given; opportunities were missed, and now that action is required, the conversation has been overtaken, not by facts but by noise. And much of that noise is coming from social media, a place where speculation spreads faster than truth, where assumptions are treated like evidence, where people attack from behind a screen and are rewarded for being the loudest, not the most accurate.
That environment does not inform, it inflames – and when that same tone begins to show up in media coverage, we got a serious problem. Because the role of the media is not to amplify outrage; it is not to shape narratives through tone, implication, or selective framing. It is to inform the public fairly and consistently. But when coverage repeatedly singles out one individual, when it leans on implication instead of fact, when it drifts from reporting into story-telling, people notice.
I’ve been on the receiving end of that pattern, not just recently but going back years when details about my personal life that were irrelevant to my service were made public without my consent. That was not necessary. That did not serve this community, and it did not build trust.
At the same time, we’ve seen public positions that have shifted, and some shifted quickly.
Jerry Peterman told me he supported relocating the park and even had ideas to expand the original vision. But now he criticizes it.
Jane Albright told Mr. [Russell] Compton she supported his idea of moving the park, now she opposes it.
Griffin McClure stood in these chambers and asked us to just keep the park downtown, and now he criticizes us for doing exactly that.
That’s their right to change their mind.
But let’s not pretend the public conversation’s been consistent or grounded in facts. And I will say this clearly, based on communications I have seen, it is apparent that our current mayor is not acting independently but is relying heavily on input from Griffin McClure.
When I say I’ve spoken with people on both sides of this issue, I mean it. I’ve had those conversations face-to-face. Not everything happens online; not everything comes in a text message, and the absence of a digital record does not make those conversations any less real or any less factual.
But somehow that was turned into an accusation that I was being dishonest. That is not accountability; that is an attempt to discredit.
Now I understand that public service comes with scrutiny, and I accept that. I accepted it when I accepted this job. But scrutiny must come with fairness; it must come with consistency. It must be grounded in truth, not driven by narrative.
Right now, fairness is being drowned out by headlines, drowned out by commentary, drowned out by a cycle that rewards conflict over accuracy. And that is not good for this council; it is not good for this city. And it’s not good for the people we serve.
I will continue to this job as I always have: with care and with integrity. I will continue to stand on my record, but I will not be defined by narratives that do not reflect reality.
We don’t all have to agree, but we do have to be honest, and we do have to be fair with one another.
