Don Pringle

CENTER TWP — A candidate for supervisor said accusations made against him in a letter sent to township residents is patently false.

The Butler Eagle learned of a letter from two incumbents in the race, Alan Smallwood and Robert Sloan, that accuses candidate Don Pringle of “doing some door-to-door campaigning and making some bold statements to which we would like to comment on.”

The three men are running for two available seats on the board of supervisors.

Robert Sloan confirmed on Friday afternoon that he and Smallwood were the authors of the letter.

Pringle said Friday that while two of the false accusations are that he wants term limits for supervisors and the elimination of nuisance ordinances, the one that has left him “infuriated” is the claim that he wants to eliminate the adult bookstores ordinance.

“That absolutely hit me to my core,” Pringle said. “I never, ever said that. I never implied that. I wouldn't want it. Anything that would come along with it would be disgusting.”

Pringle said he didn't know that the township had an adult bookstore ordinance, but the accusation mainly strikes at his moral fiber and character.

“I've been a Christian my whole, entire life,” Pringle said. “I've never had so much as a traffic violation. I'm extremely infuriated right now.”

Lawsuit to be filed

Pringle said he will file an immediate lawsuit against Smallwood and Sloan through his attorney, Tom King.

He learned of the letter from a friend who received it in the mail. Pringle, who said he has served at the U.S. Department of Defense in Naval intelligence and on the Butler School Board, would not divulge the name of the friend who showed him the letter. Pringle said the friend reported that the envelope was marked “bulk mail.”

Regarding the letter's accusation on Pringle's stance on term limits, the candidate said he believes an elected office is a temporary job.

“I believe some of the supervisors have been in there for 20 years, 24 years,” Pringle said. “You need new people with new ideas, and that's what I am.”

He said he is not sure what Smallwood and Sloan meant in their statements about the nuisance ordinances.

Pringle also said he has not gone door to door in the township since the primary election in May.

He said he hopes the voters of the township understand he did not make any of the statements included in the letter.

“People who know me would never, ever believe (the statements in the letter), but people who don't know me, that's my name and good character,” Pringle said.

'Dirty politics'

He assumed the letter was sent “to play dirty politics to destroy my good name.”

Sloan said the letter was sent to those who had voted in the last two primary and General Elections, based on county Elections Bureau records.

About 1,500 letters were sent, and postage was paid by himself and Smallwood, Sloan said.

Sloan said he and Smallwood based their statements about Pringle regarding term limits and the nuisance ordinance on a pamphlet Pringle handed out during the spring primary.

Smallwood did not return calls seeking comment.

Regarding the claim that Pringle is in favor of eliminating the adult book store ordinance, Sloan said he and other supervisors heard that from residents.

“Apparently he was going door to door and that was one of the things that came back to me and Alan (Smallwood) and other people as well,” Sloan said. “We don't have any reason to believe people would outright lie to us.”

Pringle is running as a Democrat in the Nov. 5 election, while Sloan is the Republican candidate and Smallwood is running on both lines.