Editor,

I was first told by friends in Coupeville that Marie never held a job related to her law degree and never held a job she didn’t botch. Was that true? Other rumors claimed good things. She was the first “woman of color” to run for county office plus the only candidate endorsed by county employees. I paused, wondering about that. She’d never worked a day in county government. But no matter. People were probably just jealous of her youthful millennial energy.

Soon afterward though, another reality dawned. The Whidbey News-Times produced an article claiming this Marie Shimada, while working a prior job at Edmonds College for only four months, had been fired after falsely accusing the president, Dr. Amit Singh, of having an illicit affair and forging his birth certificate. As the story turned out, the alleged “affair” was only a business colleague with whom Dr. Singh was having dinner, and the birth certificate story was just plain ludicrous.

So why did she make it up? A personal grudge? I attempted to reconcile the vision of this seemingly vindictive dishonesty with the image I’d formed, but the opposite poles would not align.

I stopped reading the article. I shared this with my Coupeville friends. They pointed me to Marie’s now famous Ebey’s resignation video on YouTube. I found it a little disturbing. She spewed forth more accusations. Was this really Marie or a facsimile? She looked so weird and different.

I returned to the Edmonds College article. As it turned out, Marie had not only accused the president, she’d made accusations against others. And on top of it all, she’d failed to do the job for which she was hired, according to a special 96-page report by a private detective called in by Edmonds College to investigate Marie and the ongoing insanity swirling like a dark and smelly mud all around her.

I was next introduced to her emotionally violent debacle with the Ebey’s Trust Board. Pages of accusations, more victimhood and chicanery, a no-contact order, libel, slander, and so forth. I was sent a copy and read the Ebey’s Trust Board response letter to her addressing pages of false and ugly allegations. The same pattern of drama was obvious. Was it just an illusion? How much smoke did I need to see before admitting a fire was in progress?

I now understand Marie is a waitress, or is she a hostess? I don’t think she’s flipping bacon, but she’s employed by a restaurant. How long can it last? I’m not eating there. I’ve also learned that only three to five identifiable employees at Island County openly support Marie Shimada, and one is her father. Yes, her father. But she can’t take a poll, so claiming Island County employees support her is a very misleading claim. Why would they?

To conclude, imagining anyone with drama record like hers becoming county commissioner is a thought I find utterly terrifying.

Sharon Miller

Coupeville