A mayor of a small city in Ohio resigned from his post after being mocked for his remarks that allowing ice fishing shanties would lead to prostitution.
Hudson Mayor Craig Shubert tendered his resignation on Monday, claiming that his words during a City Council meeting had been misunderstood in an attempt to "inject a bit of dry humor" to make his point, as per NBC Chicago report.
In the discussion last week was about whether to allow people to fish on the frozen city lake at a local park, Shubert suggested that permitting ice fishing would lead to prostitution.
"Does someone come back next year and say, 'I want an ice shanty on Hudson Springs Park for x amount of time?'" Shubert remarked during the council meeting.
"And if you then allow ice fishing with shanties, then that leads to another problem - prostitution. Now you've got the police chief and the police department involved."
Shubert's comments went viral and were ridiculed on social media, per New York Post. But later on, he said that his words were "grossly misunderstood."
He clarified his remarks saying that it stemmed from his past career as a television news reporter who had covered stories on authorities arresting people due to prostitution in shanties. He added that his statements were out of his concern for the community and the possible unintentional outcomes.
According to his website, which is no longer accessible, the former mayor has worked for The Associated Press and appeared on television as a reporter and anchor.
A Case of Character Assassination?
In the resignation letter he submitted, Shubert noted that he was close to retiring, but he believed he had finished his duties as mayor.
He said his enemies took advantage of the situation "to engage in the politics of personal destruction by means of character assassination," which blames him for the bad publicity they had promoted.
An organizer of Stop the Raids, a group that pushes to decriminalize prostitution, said that elected officials usually demonize sex workers.
In reaction to Shubert's remarks, Maxine Doogan of Stop the Raids said that for politicians to use sex work as "political football" is "not good judgment'.
Time To Retire
In 2018, he campaigned for an Ohio House seat but lost in the Republican primary that spring.
He had brought nationwide attention to the city southeast of Cleveland for the second time. Last year, he called on Hudson school board members to resign in protest of using a book of writing prompts for a college-level class at the high school that he referred to as child pornography.
In his statement on Monday, as reported by NBC News, he expressed his grief over his wife's death.
Shubert said that since the passing of his wife Sherri Moyer, he has been contemplating a lot about his looming "retirement." He also expressed his gratitude to Hudson residents who supported him and his wife for the last three years.