Dear editor,My name is Linda McLeod and my husband and I have lived in Union Bay for close to a year.  I was very disappointed not to find any coverage in your newspaper concerning Mary Reynolds’ bid to seek a seat on the Union Bay Improvement District board of trustees. As anyone knows who follows Mary’s blog All Things Union Bay, Mary has dedicated a lot of her time and energy to research and expose the questionable operations of the Union Bay Improvement District with all of its “warts” and conflicts of interest.Who else besides Mary came forward with these complaints?  I would also like to point out that in my strong opinion, Mary was intentionally ignored by former UBID trustees who repeatedly refused to answer her hard-hitting questions at meetings.Then the board illegally sued Mary for defamation and spent over $100,000 of public funds to do so.  The new board settled with her since it is illegal for a government to sue an individual for defamation. Once the plaintiffs (two staff and six former UBID trustees) decided to then proceed with the defamation lawsuit using their own funds, a judge threw the case out.It amazes me that the community doesn’t insist on getting that $100,000 back which was illegally spent out of taxpayers’ money. Union Bay is a small community of less than 700 households. That money was clearly needed for urgent issues such as for a fire contingency fund.A water agreement with Kensington is probably the most important agreement which has ever been voted upon by a UBID Board.   As part of Mary’s platform for running for UBID trustee, she would like this agreement revisited.Is Mary Reynolds “too outspoken” to be a UBID trustee?I would say that she is just the person we need — she is a person who has worked tirelessly for what is important to our community.  “Fairness and true democratic practices for everyone” is her motto. Mary will tell the community how it is and won’t mince her words. When you vote at the UBID AGM on April 21, vote for Mary Reynolds.Linda McLeod,Union Bay

Comox Valley Record