THIS EXPLAINS THE SILENCE IN GRANT COUNTY
I received this message completely out of the blue. I don’t know Andrew Koeppen, but I looked him up and he is the former chairman of the Grant County Republican Party. For weeks, people have been contacting me privately about their problems with the county — yet almost none will speak publicly. His statement explains why:
STATEMENT FROM ANDREW KOEPPEN:
Joel, you asked me why are people afraid to speak publicly in Grant County? As you have seen firsthand, there is a reason people are hesitant to put their names on the record. You spoke publicly about what you believed was wrong, and afterward you faced a very different response from county government, including added regulatory pressure, potential costs, and a public response from a county official. People see that and remember it. If you still have to work with these agencies or officials, you naturally ask: What happens to me if I put my name on this?
In my experience, it gets worse when you move beyond criticism and actually start exposing problems. I have had false things said about me, been confronted in threatening ways; including several incidents where someone charged at me. I had people try to get my customer list, received threats online and by text, and learned that people were being told not to associate with me. It has gotten serious enough that my wife worries someone may actually try to hurt me.
There is also a pattern. You expose something, and suddenly the focus shifts from the issue to you. The attacks start. The rumors start. You get accused of the same kind of wrongdoing you were trying to expose. People try to isolate you and damage your reputation, while the person being questioned portrays themselves as the victim. Sometimes they even use religion or Bible verses to reinforce that image. Then, even when people in the community know the history, you still see that person getting support, opportunities, and even contracts. The message to anyone watching is pretty clear: speaking up may cost you, while the person you raised concerns about may continue on as if nothing happened.
My experience, and even yours, is not happening in isolation. Over the last three years, I have talked with or learned about at least six other people who describe similar experiences after raising concerns. Threats, online harassment, damaged reputations, careers affected or ended, and efforts to discredit or isolate them. Some will talk privately but refuse to go on the record because they fear what could happen next. I even know of a reporter who, because of security concerns, is not allowed to go into one Grant County city alone.
This is no longer just affecting the people who speak up. I have talked with people outside Grant County who have heard about what happens here. Some have told me they would not move a business here, and others would not take a job here because of it.
That should concern everyone. When people believe speaking up can cost them their reputation, career, business, relationships, or safety, they stay quiet. And when that becomes the reputation of a community, it does not just hurt the people involved. It hurts Grant County.