Letter to the Editor: Erie Town Council 8/26/25: Erie Deserves Better Than Toxic Male Fragility

This letter was sent to Yellow Scene Magazine. As with all Letters to the Editor, the views expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the publication. We value providing space for community voices

I attended the Erie Town Council meeting on 8/26, and I just watched the video replay of last night—and wow, do I have some observations to share.

I watched Andrew Moore and Brandon Bell and their tag team of disrespect towards Councilwoman Baer. Their words and actions were shameful, reprehensible, and—to use a buzzword that will hopefully get your knickers twisted—deplorable. It is quite clear that neither one of them has any respect for her, not because of her positions, but purely because of her gender. The two of them should be ashamed. I understand that in order to feel shame, one must have the capacity to think of someone other than themselves, and it is abundantly clear that the two of them need a lot of help in that arena.

Now, I’m sure that both of them (and likely others) think that I’m overreacting and will vigorously defend themselves and exclaim, “What do you mean, I treat women equally and fairly!” My gut tells me that if we were to ask the women in their lives, they would have different thoughts. If this is how they treat an elected councilwoman in public while being recorded, I can only imagine how they treat women when nobody is watching. We also saw how the Mayor’s wife attempted to bully two Erie residents after the meeting in June, so I have a pretty good idea of what passes for respect in the Moore household.

I could go on at length about the double talk and double standards regarding the flag policy, but it is evident that neither of them sees this as an issue of inclusion. They see it as an opportunity to disguise their prejudices as policy. Between Bell’s grandstanding and Andrew’s condescension toward Councilwoman Baer, Councilman Pesaramelli, and even the town clerk—whom he chastised for not calling on members in the order that he prefers—I don’t know which of them deserves more scorn. We absolutely don’t see eye to eye on what defines inclusion and equality, but here’s what I heard last night in summary: by offering inclusion and equality to protected classes, we are somehow making things unequal for the classes that require no protection. In other words, showing support to anything other than straight, white males somehow chips away at the bedrock of toxic male fragility—and that’s bad, somehow.

Brian O’Connor thinks the military deserves more recognition, and he made some weird argument about people with disabilities not feeling included. Brandon brought up anti-Semitism and flying the Israeli flag, shedding crocodile tears for the poor Israelis who are murdering Palestinians and how traumatizing it must be for that group of people carrying out and supporting genocide in Gaza. Talk about picking the wrong example. I guess somewhere between attending a MAGA rally last year and today, Tantrum Bell must have forgotten that there’s a thin line between today’s MAGA Republican and the actual Nazis who have been marching and chanting “Jews will not replace us” with increasing frequency all across our country—and that thin line is often seen under a red hat.

I shared in comment that Erie is not a MAGA stronghold and made mention of Project 2025. I am proud that my comments really got Andrew and Brandon worked up and vehemently denying their association or support of that movement. It reminded me of that saying, “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” Brandon attended a MAGA rally last year and bragged about it on social media. Andrew stated last night that he left the Republican Party in 2017, yet he sent out a robotext during the campaign saying Erie didn’t have conservative representation in the mayoral election. He said he leans left on many issues but that he agrees with “fiscal conservative” ideals, while somehow ignoring that he spent seventy thousand dollars of town money to fulfill some selfish need for the community to affirm his biases in the comprehensive survey. That is not fiscally conservative at all.

This is where a good letter to the editor would add a call to action, a request for decency, a path toward a solution. Well, that only works when you’re dealing with individuals who actually seek a solution. The two of them don’t seek solutions; they instead choose to live in the problem—both real and imagined—and for that I truly feel bad for them, and for Erie as a whole.

Sincerely,
Skylar Weitzel
20-year Erie resident