Posted on 12/10/2003 12:59:04 PM PST by Sub-Driver
When the mayor said 'cheese,' everyone in town had a feast
By JANE ARMSTRONG
UPDATED AT 3:57 PM EST Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2003
VANCOUVER -- As the first female mayor of the northern B.C. town of Houston, Sharon Smith was proud of her accomplishments. So was her husband. So proud that he snapped photos of Her Worship wearing the chain of office - and nothing else.
Everything was fine until photos of a smiling Ms. Smith were allegedly copied from her home computer during a house party her kids threw, then circulated around the mill town of 4,300.
Now, the risqué shots of the toned and tan mayor are the talk of the town in coffee shops and on mill floors. In a town so small that gossip travels nearly as fast as the Internet, the mayor's photos have made quite a splash.
Ms. Smith, 48, a former nurse, councillor and mother of three boys, is mortified -- but unrepentant. In a letter to the local weekly paper, Ms. Smith said the photos were taken during a private moment with her husband.
"My privacy has been violated in every sense," Ms. Smith wrote in her letter earlier this month to Houston Today. "These photos are private property belonging to my husband and me. I am very hurt and embarrassed."
She said the photos are stolen property and warned that people who "knowingly" possess them are breaking the law.
Ms. Smith did not return phone calls made to her Houston office yesterday. But in an interview with a Vancouver newspaper, Ms. Smith said her husband took the photos because "he was proud of the fact that I was mayor.
"We made sure that we were not infringing on anyone else. It was a private moment and that's all it was."
In one full-length photo (a portion of which appears at left) she is seated naked, with the mayor's medallion draped around her neck.
Ms. Smith told the Vancouver Province she did not intend to disgrace the mayor's office, and has no plans to resign. She said most townspeople stand by her and have offered support.
However, one former town councillor is aghast at Ms. Smith's behaviour, calling it a "catastrophic error in judgment" and demanding she resign.
Nipper Kettle said that he recognized the location of the photos as the mayor's office and that many Houston residents are unimpressed with the mayor's defensive reaction.
Mr. Kettle said Ms. Smith should have apologized to residents rather than play the role of crime victim.
"I pretty much condemn what she's done," said Mr. Kettle, who worked with Ms. Smith when both were councillors. "To have pictures on your computer at home is not a big deal, I guess. That's within your rights.
"But when you go down to the municipal office that is paid for by the taxpayers and do those kinds of things and wearing the chain of office, that's where people see the wrongdoing here. People are feeling let down and very distraught.
"It's something that shouldn't have been done because that shows total disrespect for the office that you hold."
RCMP Sergeant Dave Fenson confirmed that police are investigating a theft from the Smith home in early November.
Sgt. Fenson said it's believed someone with access to the computer took the photos. But it's not a break-and-enter.
Mr. Kettle said that according to town rumour, the photographs were stolen during a party thrown by Ms. Smith's sons when their parents were out.
A young guest playing on the computer burned a disk of the photos and they began circulating around town. The RCMP would not confirm this version.
Meanwhile, town administrator Jack Mussallem described Ms. Smith as a hardworking mayor.
"All I can tell you is that she works very hard on behalf of the community and is very diligent about her work."
An avid outdoorswoman, Ms. Smith was featured in a recent B.C. magazine that showed pictures of her skiing with her family and posing with the carcass of a moose she had shot. In the article, Ms. Smith said she saw herself as a role model to kids and women in the community.
"If you set your goals, set your sights on something you want to do, you can achieve it. You don't have to come from a special family or special background; if you want to be there, just work hard and you can do it."
Mayor Smith wearing more than just her chain of office.
A woman who would pose naked and then bring home a moose for dinner -- that's my kind of woman!
I'll bet I know what "Nipper" was staring at!
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