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Code of conduct complaint filed against reeve

Athabasca County woman took offense to Larry Armfelt’s use of the word “dogpatch” 
Lil Abner Larry
Athabasca County reeve Larry Armfelt on the left, and title comic book character Li’l Abner with love interest Daisy Mae Yokum, who lived in the destitute Appalachian town of Dogpatch.

ATHABASCA - A remark about the “dogpatches” in his division has resulted in a formal complaint against Athabasca County reeve Larry Armfelt, under the county’s code of conduct bylaw. 

During a municipal planning commission meeting, broadcast over the county’s YouTube channel, Aug. 25, councillors discussed the Land Use Bylaw and how it related to the number of RV trailers that were allowed on one property. One resolution to table the discussion for more information was carried. Another resolution to have the members of council arrange a road tour to explore RV development in their respective divisions, and report back to the commission was also passed.

In the discussion leading up to those resolutions, Armfelt was heard to invite fellow councillors to “visit the dogpatches in his division” numerous times. Several of those in attendance online took that as an insult, leading to one resident of Armfelt’s Baptiste-area division to file a complaint under the county’s code of conduct. 

Dogpatch is a word that is defined as “a poor rural community in the U.S., especially in the South, whose inhabitants are unsophisticated and have little education.” Its origin comes from the Li’l Abner comic strip by Al Capp, which was syndicated in newspapers around the world between 1934 and 1977. Dogpatch was the town where Li’l Abner lived in the American South. 

According to Wikipedia, “In Capp's own words, Dogpatch was "an average stone-age community nestled in a bleak valley, between two cheap and uninteresting hills somewhere." The inhabitants were mostly lazy hillbillies, who usually wanted nothing to do with progress.” 

For his part, Armfelt says his use of the word was exaggerated and misinterpreted and he did not know he had offended anyone until he was contacted by the Advocate Sept. 4. He said he was referring generally to some of the unsightly premises the county has to deal with on a regular basis, and nothing in particular. 

“We do have some situations in our county that are very well-run, and then we’ve got other places which are not looked after and so on. So maybe I exaggerated calling them a dogpatch, but they’re certainly not up to the standards of what we would like with our development permits,” Armfelt said. 

Made aware of the current dictionary definition of the word, Armfelt said that was certainly not what he meant. 

“My definition of dogpatch is an unsightly premise, which we get complaints about a number of times,” he said. 

County resident Brenda Skayman lives at Shank Country Estates, located west of Athabasca on Island Lake, had to look up the meaning of the word, and says she felt very disrespected by the reeve’s comments when she did. 

She acknowledged Armfelt never referred specifically to herself, or that subdivision, but has decided to file the formal code of conduct complaint, citing Sections 5 and 6 in particular. 

Section 5.4 of Bylaw 011-2018 states: “Council members shall ensure that their behavior prior, during and following a meeting towards other council members, administration and the public is at all times courteous, professional, fair and unbiased, avoids sarcasm, derogatory comments or comments designed to embarrass, and is ultimately respectful of the rulings of council as a whole.” 

“The reeve is the voice of the county, and the face of the county, so for him to be talking this way, in a public forum, or any kind of forum … I just felt he was making fun of, or mocking a certain area,” said Skayman.  

“I was taken aback by it, but there were many who laughed at his comment, so I thought it might be a private joke.” 

Then she looked up the definition of dogpatch. 

“It hit me personally. I felt very disrespected. This is where I personally live, this is my home, this is where I’m at and set down roots, and for someone, based on the definition of what a dogpatch is, is treating me like I have no education. It was very clear that I was a low-life,” said Skayman, who added she would like Armfelt to publicly apologize for his use of the term and be more aware of his statements in the future. 

The misunderstanding may have occurred because Shank Country Estates was referred to throughout the meeting, but not in the context of being unsightly, Armfelt said, adding he feels the area is “pristine and tranquil.” 

“Shank Estates is one of the best subdivisions we’ve got in the county,” he said. “I have complimented Shank Estates over and over again … To make reference to Shank Estates as unsightly is nuts.” 

Sam Shaver is another resident of Shank Country Estates who was following the meeting as it happened, with a particular interest in the discussion regarding variances for recreational vehicles. He too was taken aback my Armfelt’s comments, as he was aware of what a dogpatch actually is. He said he’s not upset enough to file a formal complaint, but wouldn’t mind hearing an apology from the reeve as well. 

“They had quite a discussion on it, but one thing that stuck out in my mind was when Larry Armfelt made a comment about the dogpatches in his district. Dogpatches really piqued my interest because I’m old enough to remember reading the Li’l Abner comics in the newspaper and Li’l Abner lived in Dogpatch,” Shaver said. 

“The inference was that he didn’t want any more trailers, because it would run the area down. That’s the way I took it. Did he say it in a derogatory way or tone? Not really, it was more like he was stating a fact, but that’s open to interpretation.” 

 

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