Lodi’s Kuehne reflects on harassment study
Former mayor responds to study about ‘psychological violence’ faced by mayors
Having recently completed his first term as mayor, Lodi City Councilman Doug Kuehne reflected on the amount of harassment he received while in office, particularly via email and social media.
“I was flabbergasted. I didn’t receive any death threats, but I did experience disrespectful comments in meetings, on social media and by verbal harassment. It was mostly on social media and email. It’s amazing how brazen people can be when they’re not saying something to your face.” Kuehne said.
The majority of harassment Kuehne was faced with consisted of name calling — with “moron” and “idiot” being the most common, he said. He attributed a large portion of the harassment to people not knowing the context of the decisions that angered them.
The introspection was prompted by a survey conducted by a team of researchers led by Rebekah Herrick, professor of political science at Oklahoma State University entitled “Psychological Violence Against Mayors.” The survey measured levels of harassment, threats, damage to property and physical violence encountered by 283 mayors throughout the United States, according to Marcia Godwin, a professor of public administration at the University of La Verne who compiled the data.
“This survey was based on a study of women in parliaments around the world and the rather high levels of harassment, threats and physical violence they’re faced with. We wanted to see whether these kinds of threats happened more or less with female candidates and elected officials (in the U.S.),” Godwin said.
According to the survey, 44.7 percent of the mayors reported being harassed, including unwanted behavior, attention or verbal comments during their careers, with 57.6 percent reporting social media harassment. 37.8 percent reporting being harassed with disrespectful comments or images in public meetings, and 12 percent reporting receiving threats of death, rape, beating, abduction or similar acts.
Also, 2.5 percent of the respondents reported family members receiving similar threats, and 6.7 percent reported violence against property, such as slashed tires, keyed cars and an object thrown through a window. Seven mayors reported minor violence, such as having objects thrown at them, and three reported significant physical violence. Godwin explained that only one respondent mentioned being shoved to the ground, and added that nobody reported suffering any serious injuries.
Although Kuehne did not receive any threats of violence, the amount of verbal and written harassment faced by him and his family — such as being referred to as an “***hole” during a vote earlier this year — did prompt him to purchase a gun, something he never expected he would do.
“I haven’t ever been a gun owner, but I actually went out and bought a gun this year. Not just for my safety, but for my family’s. I figured, if they can be that bold on Facebook or email, Lord knows what else they’re capable of,” Kuehne said.
Despite all of the harassment, Kuehne said that he has no plans to step down from his seat on the city council, where he has one more year left on his term. He is also considering running for office again in the future, depending on when Lodi finishes establishing voting districts.
Newly-elected Mayor Alan Nakanishi, on the other hand, said that he did not face any harassment during his previous two terms as mayor, and does not expect any during his third term.
“They may say negative things about you, but I have not been harassed. I’ve never had any experience of harassment that I can remember,” Nakanishi said.