It is unlikely to be a coincidence that a very unprofessional and public display of both bad taste and really poor judgment demonstrated by ORCCA executive director Mike Lehman at an area movie theater was then followed by a recent letter-to-the-editor by Danny Stoddard.

Danny Stoddard at Wyden Town Hall

Danny Stoddard at Wyden Town Hall

Just a few days ago Mike Lehman and his wife were seen exiting a theater when they bumped into someone that witnesses identified as bearing a remarkable likeness to Stoddard and possibly his son, and the pair made a great and sonorous show, heard by many in the hallway and theater lobby, of discussing the merits a lawsuit brought against the agency. It is claimed that Lehman made disparaging remarks about the incompetent “former employees” who should have just asked for $50,000 but instead they “had to make a point” and “ask for $3.2 million.” According to witnesses, Lehman and Stoddard’s backslapping theater and fits of laughter were aimed at goading yet another former employee who had also attended a movie that night and was within hearing distance.

Stoddard as most of us will remember, is the same individual who worked himself into a lather and fueled the relentless hate campaign that eventually contributed to the removal of Mary Schoen-Clark. His recent letter is filled with similarly incorrect and wildly flamboyant claims that he made back then. Stoddard may also be behind a hate website, (which I will not link to), setup to further demonize her after Schoen-Clark had already left the agency. If true, then his vindictiveness clearly exceeds most accepted social norms and in my opinion crosses the border into requiring intervention.

What is pathetic is that Lehman and the board would be this desperate as to incite someone who may be unstable and apparently enjoys inflicting emotional violence to attack the plaintiffs in the press.