I mean, let’s be honest here, folks. It’s easy to understand why Kimberly Williamson Butler might be a little distracted these days.
After all, Kimberly lives & works in post-Katrina New Orleans. Which (obviously) offers its own unique set of challenges.
Now add to this that Ms. Williamson Butler is the Clerk of the Criminal Court in Orleans Parish. And among her responsiblities is supervising elections in the city of New Orleans.
Well, the “Big Easy” will be holding its next mayoral election on April 22nd. And given that there are currently 23 candidates running for mayor in that city … Well, that’s an awful lot for one civil servant to try & keep track of.
Then add to that the fact that — back in early March — Kimberly had a run-in with a district court judge over her office’s inept handling of FEMU fund applications. Which resulted in that judge ordering Ms. Williamson Butler be held on contempt charge.
But Kimberly … Well, she didn’t like the idea of going to jail. Which is why New Orleans’ Clerk of the Criminal Court then decided to go on the lam.
Which is why Ms. Williamson Butler spent the next week in hiding. Stealthily moving from place to place, deftly dodging arrest warrants while she called in to radio talk shows & tried to plead her case.
After spending a week on the run, Kimberly finally surrendered to authorities. And then — after spending three days in Orleans Parish Prison (I.E. The very correctional facility that her office oversees) — Ms. Williamson Butler emerged from jail and announced that this experience had profoundly changed her. Which is why Kimberly had now decided to throw her own hat in the ring. Meaning that she too was now running for mayor.
So, okay. Let’s now make that 24 candidates …
Anyway … Given that Ms. Williamson-Butler’s office is actually in charge of supervising this election, there were immediate cries of “conflict of interest.” With various “Big Easy” movers & shakers insisting that Kimberly could not be expected to be an impartial judge of a mayoral race that she herself was competing in. Which is why it would be best for all of Orleans Parish if Ms. Williamson-Butler were to immediately resign her position as the Clerk of the Criminal Court.
To date, Kimberly has refused all of these requests. Insisting that she’s completely within her rights to hold one elected office while seeking another. More to the point, Williamson-Butler insists that she’s perfectly capable of running the Criminal Court’s office AND run a successful political campaign. That she has the ability to keep track of all the necessary details in a situation like this.
Well, if that’s really the case … Than can someone explain to me what’s going on over electkimberly.com? You know, that web site which is trumpeting about how Kimberly Williamson Butler is ” … the Right Choice for Mayor of New Orleans”?
“What’s wrong with this web site?,” you ask. Well … Given that Kimberley got such a late start with her campaign (I mean, the poor woman only announced her candidacy six weeks ago tomorrow), it’s easy to understand how the web designers behind www.electkimberly.com might have been tempted to cut a few corners. Quickly slap something together so that there’d at least be some sort of site up on the Web that informed voters about Ms. Williamson Butler’s platform is, what her credentials might be, etc.
And given the deadline that these guys were working under, there was obviously no time to take any official campaign photos. Which is why that web evidently decided to take a picture of Kimberly and then Photoshop that image over a particularly picturesque shot of the city of New Orleans.
The only problem is … The cityscape that you see to the right of Ms. Williamson Butler? That’s not the real New Orleans. But — rather — Disneyland‘s New Orleans Square.
Don’t believe me? Then take a closer look. Particularly at that brightly painted trashcan. Does that look familiar to all you Disneyland fans out there?
Anywho … Again, given all that’s been going on her life these past weeks, it’s easy to understand why Kimberly might be a little distracted up until now. Which is why she probably didn’t have the time to take a good close look at www.electkimberly.com. Which is why she (or her campaign staff, for that matter) has yet to realize that the most prominent image on the official Kimberly Williamson Butler website doesn’t actually show her standing in the city that she wants to govern. But — rather — depicts Ms. Williamson Butler as being some 1900 miles away, enjoying a happy moment in Anaheim, CA.
Though I imagine that that’s going to change pretty damned fast once Kimberly hears about this story (Which comes to JHM readers courtesy of that awfully nice guy who runs Justinspace.com).
Your thoughts?