MySpace Mayor, Carmen Kontur-Gronquist Loses Her Job over Underwear Pix

Will the MySpace Mayor Ride Quietly into the Sunset?




The most famous underwear in small-town mayoral politics has surfaced--so to speak--again.

This time, it has cost Carmen Kontur-Gronquist her job as Arlington, OR mayor.

DBKP has been reporting on the curveous mayor since her sexy MySpace photos were passed around Arlington and she ran into trouble last month.

More DBKP MySpace Mayor stories: More on the adventures of the MySpace Mayor, Carmen Kontur-Gronquist and her battle to hang onto her job as the her town battled to hang onto its dignity. The stories include videos and pictures of Arlington's racy mayor and her adventures after she used the town's firetruck for a photo shoot for her MySpace page. January 13, 2008 * MySpace Mayor Poses in Underwear on Town's Firetruck January 29, 2008 * MySpace Mayor Quiet as Others Ride to Her Rescue February 26, 2008 * MySpace Mayor Loses Job after Losing all her Clothes but her Underwear

As we reported yesterday, Kontur-Gronquist, is now looking for work.

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From yesterday's story:

First, she stripped down to her bra and panties for pictures on the town's firetruck for her MySpace page.

Then, the town of Arlington, OR stripped Carmen Kontur-Gronquist of her job as mayor.

Voters in Arlington, population about 500, voted narrowly on Monday night to recall Carmen Kontur-Gronquist.

The tally was reportedly 142-139. City officials said the recall is effective Tuesday and at that time, the mayor will be looking for work.

Kontur-Gronquist said the pictures of her in black bra and panties were taken for use in a contest about fitness, but a relative posted them on MySpace in hopes it would improve the social life of the single mother.

The mayor was the center of a controversy when the pictures were circulated throughout the town.

Some of the citizens had a 'live and let live' attitude, saying that it was her private life and no business of anyone else.

Others replied that Kontur-Gronquist did her provocative photography on the town's property--the firetruck--and that wasn't exactly the image the small Oregon town was trying to project to the rest of the world.



The pictures predated her election, but she said she saw no reason to take them off the popular Web site, MySpace, once elected three years ago. Later, she closed access to them.

If one signed onto her MySpace page, the mayor indicated that her mood was "silly".

Opponents said it wasn't fitting for the mayor to be so depicted. They said they also disagreed with her on issues about water and the local golf course

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And now, the MySpace Mayor will ride off into the sunset of media awareness.

Unless of course, the mayor gets a photo spread in Hustler or perhaps even Playboy, if she gets hard-up for cash, and re-enters the public consciousness.

She can take solace in one important point in her political favor.

At least her opponents can't say she had anything to hide.

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As DBKP regular pat commented, "I would have kept her."

That thought echoed many that have appeared in the recall of the lusty politician.

Carmen Kontur-Gronquist wasn't in the public eye--aside from her MySpace exposure, that is--for very long. But she seemed to us like a "fun-loving girl".

DBKP will try and ascertain what the mayor's next step will be. We haven't made contact yet, and our emails go unanswered.

Perhaps the mayor is weighing very important financial offers--like a photo shoot in something a bit more lucrative than MySpace.

Playboy, anyone?

Attempts to contact Carmen will continue. People seem to be interested in the plucky--if injudicious--politician. And we don't feel like we know anything about her, really.

We'd hate to see her just fade away.

Carmen, we hardly knew ye.

by Mondoreb
image: file; FOX
Source: Oregon Residents recall Mayor who posed in underwear on firetruck



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

MySpace Mayor Poses in Underwear on Town Firetruck

Victoria's Secret, Look Out!

Calmly Fights off Recall Efforts

Mayor is on fire;
So are some of her constituents

"I'm not going to change who I am. There's a lot of officials that have a personal life, and you have people in this community who have nothing better to do than scrape up stuff like this."

--Arlington, OR Mayor Carmen Kontur-Gronquist

Curvaceous MySpace Mayor, Carmen Kontur-Gronquist, now has her MySpace page set to "private", but the casual searcher can still see that the Arlington, OR Mayor describes her mood as "silly".

The townspeople who are leading the charge for her recall are a little more subdued.

And anyone can still see that the Mayor was logged in yesterday, a few days after her provocative MySpace pictures hit the public airwaves. Her MySpace account had already been set to "Private" by then, but not before someone had tipped off the local TV station, KATU, to the MySpace Mayor's photo shoot alongside the Arlington town firetruck.

Kontur-Gronquist also doubles as the fire department's executive secretary.

So, she's in the clear--she probably gave herself permission to use the Arlington firewagon for the "Mayors Gone Wild" backdrop.

Be that as it may, the town's annual meeting was this past Wednesday night.

Some citizens campaigned for the Mayor's recall. From all reports, she seemed as calm at the town meeting before the citizens who had gathered to voice their concerns.

One wonders if the Mayor was employing an old trick that speakers have used for years to cure "butterflies in the stomach".

Imagine that everyone in the room is in their underwear.

Or maybe not.

Mayor Carmen Kontur-Gronquist - who created a stir with her decision to post a photograph of herself, clad only in a black bra and panties, on her MySpace page - calmly listened to and then ignored calls for her resignation.

In a town of 500, as is Arlington's population, 30 citizens are about 6%--but how many of them were voters?

And how many had just showed up for the drama?

Nearly 30 citizens stood with Ron Miller Wednesday night as he addressed Kontur-Gronquist at a council meeting that attracted far more than the usual number of constituents. Miller listed five complaints against the mayor - the first four dealing with city business and, lastly, the photo of the scantily clad mayor on a town fire truck.

"The apparent lack of city leadership has become so blatant we feel a change needs to be made," he said. Miller said if the mayor was unwilling to resign, the group would proceed with a recall petition.

Earlier this past week, the following was the typical report that most of the nation saw on the MySpace Mayor's shenanigans.

Some of the mayor's roughly 500 constituents will want to know her views on the issues affecting the Eastern Oregon community; others will want to talk about her underwear.

The mayor's lingerie is a hot topic here, with some residents upset that she posted pictures of herself wearing only a black bra and panties on her MySpace page. She was on one of the town's fire engines.

Kontur-Gronquist's MySpace page is blocked to all but her friends, but the pictures were at one time available to all users. Someone sent the picture at the top of the page to local TV station, KATU, last week.

This is what the local station had to report.


In an interview with the (Pendleton) East Oregonian, the mayor said she did nothing wrong and those who are offended need to get over it.

"That's my personal life," she said. "It has nothing to do with my mayor's position."

Kontur-Gronquist, who is also the fire department's executive secretary, said the photos were taken before she was elected mayor three years ago, and she saw no reason to remove them from the Internet after taking office.

"I'm not going to change who I am," she said. "There's a lot of officials that have a personal life, and you have people in this community who have nothing better to do than scrape up stuff like this."

Lorena Woods is one of those residents who say the photos of a scantily clad mayor reflect badly on Arlington.

"It's a picture of her in bra and panties on a rural protection fire truck in a rural protection fire hall," Woods said. "This isn't the way we want our city to be portrayed."

Councilman Jeff Bufton said he's heard a lot of negative comments about the pictures but declined to say whether the council plans to address the topic.

Some residents said they were starting a recall petition.

And at least one city council member is speaking out, saying the photos are inappropriate and send the wrong message to kids.

"It gives the impression that it's just OK to do whatever you feel like doing, whenever, and not have any kind of concern about how it might affect other people, and that is a big concern I have," council member Alice Courtney told KATU.


Nothing up my sleeve...

Will the Mayor be recalled?

Will Carmen Kontur-Gronquist be thrown out on her ear, to fend for herself in a cruel and unfeeling world?

Will she apply to Victoria's Secret for an open model position?

Will the lingerie company tell her they'll hire her, but she has to supply her own fire truck?

The crisis in Arlington, OR continues.

UPDATE: January 30, 2008 MySpace Mayor Now Quiet as Others Ride to Her Rescue

by Mondoreb
Sources:
* timworstall
* Oregon mayor ignores call for resignation amid MySpace picture scandal
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