Carmen Kontur Gronquist, picture left, is the Mayor of Arlington, a city in Gilliam County, Oregon. She is now in hot waters, because of her MySpace lingerie photos:
Arlington Mayor Carmen Kontur-Gronquist is a hot topic around town of late. Some of Kontur-Gronquist's constituents say she was out of line when she posed in a black bra and panties on one of the town fire engines and posted the photos on her MySpace page.
One close-up shot shows the mayor in the door of the fire truck, one hand on the steering wheel. The vehicle's light bar is visible just to the right of Kontur-Gronquist's blond hair. The mayor has blocked her MySpace page to all but friends, though at one time, it was open to all MySpace users.
Some residents say the pictures of Arlington's mayor, scantily-clad, reflect badly on the town. Not only is Kontur-Gronquist the town's mayor, but she also serves as the fire department's executive secretary.
"It's a picture of her in bra and panties on a rural protection fire truck in a rural protection firehall," said Lorena Woods, a longtime resident. "This isn't the way we want our city to be portrayed."
However when Ms. Mayor was reached by the East Oregonian for the interview, she adamantly said racy photos on MySpace have nothing to do with duties:
That my personal life," she said staunchly. "It has nothing to do with my mayor's position."
Kontur-Gronquist said the photos were taken before she was mayor, but saw no reason to remove them from the Internet after she took 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 ... and if this is all they have to do, there is nothing they can do about it."
The mayor also refused to provide a fuller context about the photos.
"I'm not going to answer that," she said, seconds before hanging up the phone.
If you have thoughts on Carmen Kontur Gronquist MySpace lingerie photos scandal, don't hesitate to let us know by leaving comments below. Source: EastOregonian.com
Update Feb 27: Carmen Kontur Gronquist was recalled in Monday. She lost her job as Arlington Town mayor in a vote of 142 in favor and 139 against. #Tags: arlington, mayor, Carmen Kontur Gronquist, myspace, lingerie, photo, scandal