Facebook posts cause stir in city council race

What one Greencastle City Council candidate is calling hateful and even threatening rhetoric is being classified by her opponent as simple jokes.

Voters in the city’s Third Ward are left to sort out what they believe.

The controversy involves memes and statements on Facebook by Third Ward GOP candidate Haywood Ware.

One of these, shared on April 30 stated, “America needs to shut down all mosques and ban Islam. Bet you won’t repost this.”

Another, shared April 29, said “Just saw a sign that said ‘I would rather have 1,000 Muslim customers in my shop than one U.S. soldier.’ Funeral directors are funny people.”

In a Tuesday interview with the Banner Graphic, Ware said the memes were simply shared for humor.

“Most of them were jokes,” Ware said. “Others were things where I responded to friends.”

However, Pejril sees things differently, even invoking the U.S. Constitution.

“Elected officials swear an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution,” Pejril said in a statement to the paper. “You can’t advocate for shutting down houses of worship, and then say you stand for the Constitution. They are simply not compatible.

“My opponent has shared memes to social media that make a joke out of Muslim deaths, mock Latinos, and race-bait in the name of patriotism.”

Ware, however, invokes his own freedom of speech and ability to express his opinion.

“One of them was about not voting for a Muslim,” Ware recalled. “I’m still allowed my opinion, I think.”

One other matter brought to light by one of Pejril’s Facebook posts was the matter of Ware “deadnaming” her. Deadnaming is the practice of identifying someone who has changed his or her name by his or her old name, especially in the case of a transgender person.

Pejril, a transgender woman, responded when Ware called her by her old name in a Facebook post last month.

“This is a transgender woman that I’m running against, her name used to be [redacted],” Ware wrote. “Now it’s Veronica. Her friends are atheists. Don’t take my word for it, read the comments.”

Not only did Pejril respond to this, she later reposted the exchange with a comment of her own.

“My opponent in this fall’s municipal election apparently thinks that deadnaming transgender women and faith-shaming community members who worship differently (or don’t worship at all) are winning political strategies in our diverse community,” Pejril wrote.

Ware sees it as a matter of his opponent’s feelings being hurt.

“When I said she was transgender because a friend had asked, I hurt her feelings,” Ware said.

Ware says he’s the one being attacked, saying he’s been called a bigot, a racist and “everything under the sun.”

“When I first met her at the city council meeting, I told her I wasn’t going to get personal if she wasn’t going to get personal,” Ware said. “You can ask Bill Dory -- I said the same thing to him.”

Ware was Dory’s opponent for mayor four years ago. He said he thinks the mayor, despite their party differences, is doing a good job.

The entire controversy has elicited a number of reactions on social media, most notably from two fellow Republican council candidates.

“I condemn, in the strongest possible terms, these offensive posts,” Fourth Ward Councilman Tyler Wade wrote. “Hate and fear have no place in Greencastle. I call on everyone to condemn this behavior. I also ask everyone to join together to do the hard work of building better communities.

“Veronica Pejril is my friend and I have great respect for her,” Wade added. “Veronica, I am sorry that you were hurt by his posts.”

Following this election, Wade is leaving his Fourth Ward seat, as he is seeking one of three at-large council seats.

The Republican looking to replace Wade also made a statement. Cody Eckert specifically tailored his statement to his fellow members of the Putnam Pride Initiative, a local LGBTQ+ advocacy group.

“I wanted to let you all know how much I’ve been thinking about you for the past week as Haywood’s harmful, antagonistic and hurtful Facebook posts roiled our group, our community and our sense of hope for the future,” Eckert wrote. “Please don’t let one man’s views stain the optimism inherent in our mission because I’ve witnessed enormous growth from excellent people that should give heart to what we do.”

Eckert continued with words of encouragement to Pejril.

“Please know how proud I am of Veronica for keeping her head up and her awesome sense of humor intact in the face of such difficult circumstances,” Eckert said. “I’ve been so impressed with her campaign and know that she would make a tremendous city councilor, regardless of her party affiliation. Politics is a team sport and it can be difficult to navigate, but politics — especially local — should be civil, first and foremost. That’s why we should be encouraging the best and brightest to throw their hat in the ring. Otherwise, we’ll end up only with those who want it the most.”

The stir has even garnered attention at the state level, with the state Democratic chairman calling on Gov. Eric Holcomb to denounce the words of his fellow Republican.

Pejril has also called into question Ware’s record during his time as mayor of Pflugerville, a city in central Texas in which Ware served as mayor before he moved to Indiana.

She accused Ware of “self-serving grandstanding, an explosive temper, and a legacy of failed relationships of trust, as he carpetbagged from town to town around Travis County, Texas 25 years ago.”

Ware, who was a Democrat in Texas, also later served as an alderman in Jonestown, 20 miles away from Pflugerville.

But Ware defends his record in Texas.

“They have twisted and lied. She said that when I left Pflugerville was bankrupt,” Ware said. “It was the second wealthiest city in Texas. We had a quarter of the budget in reserve.”

He also points to awards either he or the city won during his tenure, including a national leadership award for cities and towns with a population under 70,000, as well as becoming the first city in Texas to win awards from the Environmental Protection Agency for both water and wastewater in the same year.

Ware also proudly sees himself as honest.

“When I was the mayor of Pflugerville, my reputation was, ‘Don’t ask him unless you want to know,’” he said.

At this point, Ware said he is tired of the fallout from the controversy, which he says has included threats and vandalism to his property, as well as stealing a trail cam he mounted to catch any vandals.

“My wife’s scared to leave the house,” Ware said. “If someone comes into my yard, I’m not a sissy. I’m 70 years old but I think I would surprise them.”

Anyone waiting for fireworks at the League of Women Voters candidate forum Wednesday evening will not get them, as Ware has now said he will not attend, based on a separate problem with event organizers.

For her part, Pejril points out that the posts are still on Ware’s Facebook page and that he has not apologized.

They have also been posted separately at a website bearing Ware’s name: www.haywoodware.com. It is unclear who set up the site bearing his name, but it was not Ware.

While they clearly have different opinions on the issue, both candidates seem anxious to move on and prepare for the election.

“It’s just getting old,” Ware said. “I’m not going to lower myself down in the gutter with them.”

“We’ve got bigger issues to be talking about, like how we can keep our neighborhoods safe for our kids, and our taxes low,” Pejril said. “I hope every Greencastle citizen will stand united against the hateful messages contained in Mr. Ware’s posts.”

With early voting opening in Putnam County this week and the election less than four weeks away, it’s up to voters to decide where they stand.