Middlebury town attorney Robert Smith threatened legal action against Middlebury Selectwoman Jennifer Mahr over a social media post and political ad incorporating a Middlebury Bee-Intelligencer news story in which the reporter and editor of the local newspaper claims she was threatened by attorney Smith.

In emails that appear to have been mistakenly sent to Marjorie Needham, editor of the Middlebury Bee, Smith wrote, “Hopefully [Needham] is not gearing up to go after our Town Committee too. If she does, it will be a big mistake for her,” and then advocating to “freeze her out.”

Smith and others, including Middlebury First Selectman Edward St. John, were accusing Needham of publishing a “political hit-piece,” because she posted a press release from Selectwoman Mahr announcing her candidacy for the first selectman seat – something Needham says she normally does with political press releases from town candidates.

Needham, who is 80 years old and has lived in Middlebury since 2004, wrote an extensive piece in the Middlebury Bee reacting to the emails. 

“Robert Smith’s emails to me were the first threats I have received in the more than 20 years I have been part of the Middlebury Bee-Intelligencer,” Needham wrote in a July 12 article. “Not only that, I was threatened and my livelihood was threatened, not for anything I personally wrote, but for publishing text someone else wrote.”

The article quickly made the rounds on Middlebury social media and elicited a reaction from Mahr saying the incident made it “abundantly clear,” that a change in town leadership was needed and that “threatening a woman-owned independent paper in a small town for doing her job is beyond reprehensible and a violation of the principles of democracy that I believe in.”

Smith quickly sent an email to Mahr claiming Mahr’s “political ad, accusing me of threatening, is not just misleading, it’s irresponsible and beneath the dignity of someone seeking to lead our town,” and claiming he was simply exercising his right not to respond to a reporter’s questions, before going on to threaten future legal action against Mahr for her political speech.

“Silencing dissent or penalizing individuals for protected expression mirrors the tactics of authoritarian regimes – not the values of a democratic society. I hope you can appreciate the serious implications of such an approach, especially for anyone serving in public office,” Smith wrote in an email. “Going forward, any accusation that falsely alleges I’ve committed the crime of issuing threats in this context will be treated as defamatory, and I will pursue legal remedies accordingly.”

Ironically, Mahr is facing her second complaint before the Middlebury Ethics Commission over her opposition to a proposed massive distribution facility that has caused political havoc in the small town. Mahr and a partner organized the Middlebury Small Town Alliance (MSTA) in 2023 to oppose a plan to build a massive distribution facility nearby neighborhoods, and the organization appealed 

Mahr then rode the widespread opposition to the distribution center to victory in the 2023 race for town selectman. However, while serving as a selectman, an ethics complaint was filed against Mahr for not recusing herself from a discussion on whether the town should allocate more funds to defend against MSTA’s legal appeals. 

The first complaint, filed by the husband of Conservation Commission Vice-Chair Mary Barton who voted in favor of the distribution facility, was eventually dropped.

A second complaint was filed against Mahr by Middlebury Board of Finance Chairman Vincent Cipriano who is running for first selectman. Edward St. John, who has been first selectman for roughly 30 years, announced he was dropping from the first selectman race and is seeking election to the town’s Board of Finance instead. 

Mahr and her attorney have argued these complaints are political, that she was elected because of her opposition to the distribution center and was simply doing what she was elected to do, and that the Ethics Commission is impinging on her right to free speech and free association. Mahr is not the first to have raised concerns about the town’s use of the ethics commission to intimidate officials who were opposed to the distribution facility. 

Attorney Keith Ainsworth, who is representing Mahr argued that the Ethics Commission is also in violation of its own rules because the commissioners maintain other official town positions, something not allowed under their rules, according to a transcript of the latest meeting. 

Furthermore, Mahr can only appeal an Ethics Commission decision to the Board of Selectmen where she would have to recuse herself, and St. John has already declared her guilty of having a conflict of interest in several written and verbal statements. There is no recourse to Superior Court outlined in the ethics rules.

During the latest Middlebury Board of Selectmen meeting on July 21, reporter and editor Marjorie Needham spoke publicly about the incident, pointing out that she had merely published a press release, as she planned to do with other campaign press releases.

“Some blame me for writing it, others blame me for publishing it. To be clear, I did not write her press release. As for publishing it, my plan had been to publish press releases from all candidates for first selectman, her’s just happened to come in first,” Needham said during the public comment period. “I have always worked very hard to report on local issues and events without bias. I will continue to do so.”

Needham went on to thank readers and those who reached out to support her after she published her article detailing the emails, and who offered to escort her to board and commission meetings if she felt unsafe. Needham said that town officials told her it wasn’t a threat and Smith apologized for how she felt but did not apologize for his actions.

Smith responded that it was a personal and political matter, and he was concerned about violating the ethics code in responding. “I issued a response to Selectman Mahr to respond to allegation that were made in an ad she posted to her Facebook page,” Smith said.

St. John then publicly accused Needham of bias. “Why don’t you just come out and say it; you’re Jennifer’s [Mahr] campaign manager.”

When Needham protested that it wasn’t true, St. John doubled down saying it is true. Mahr responded that she has a campaign manager, and it isn’t Needham.

Republish This Story

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.