Aberdeen voters may think the group Friends of Aberdeen is suffering a pre-election identity crisis, as two groups use the same name to tell two different stories.
The antithetical aims are a side effect of the ongoing battle over the groups? name, claimed by some of Mayor S. Fred Simmons? harshest critics and one of his biggest supporters.
Stephen Wright, consultant to Aberdeen and a business partner of Simmons, applied for rights to the trade name “Friends of Aberdeen-MD Inc.” in June but says he?s been using it for years to promote the city and Simmons.
But since January, the name “Friends of Aberdeen” has been used by a group of residents who fought to defeat the annexation of more than 500 acres in a December 2006 referendum. Its members don?t believe Wright has been using the name longer than they have. For now, the group changed its name on its Web site to Honest Friends of Aberdeen.
“Certainly, the name itself is not an issue; we will gladly change our group?s name to something else as quickly as we can,” Doty added. “But it does illustrate the type of individuals [who] are involved in Aberdeen?s local politics.”
Wright?s group has already begun mailing literature asking voters to support Simmons, which some residents call an attempt to confuse voters by using the shared name.
Wright, however, denied allegations that he was harassing the group.
“That?s simply not true, if they?re saying I?m harassing them,” Wright said.
He said he did not want residents to confuse the other Friends group with his and was still interested in finding out who was involved with the residents group. He sent the group an e-mail last month demanding a list of members, along with their addresses, telephone numbers, accountants and lawyers, but he says he got no response.
“They?re not Friends of Aberdeen,” Wright said. “They?re not part of my group, and they?re not friends of Aberdeen in reality.”
