Public Inferno Over Mayor's Not-So-Private Photos Results in Recall

Feb. 27, 2008 — -- Carmen Kontur-Gronquist, the mayor of Arlington, Ore., whose personal photos of her posing on a firetruck caused a firestorm in the small town, was removed from office Monday in a narrow recall election, 142-139.

Not every citizen of Arlington, a town of fewer than 600 residents, had kind words for the town's first female mayor as the controversy played out.

The 42-year-old single mom faced attacks because of a photograph of her — taken years before she became mayor — clad in a black bra and underwear, posing on a local firetruck.

Earlier this year, some citizens found the photo and a few others like it on Kontur-Gronquist's MySpace page. In January, Kontur-Gronquist spoke to ABC News about the controversy that sparked comment nationwide.

"I took this office," Kontur-Gronquist said, "and those photos have nothing to do with me and my abilities as being mayor."

Some citizens disagreed. When asked what kind of job she had done as mayor, school board member Grant Wilkins said, "Questionable. I have some reservations about some of her decision making."

"I think everyone has to ask … in light of what has happened, 'Is this a representation of what we want as a community?'" said Wilkins, who wants the mayor to leave office.

"The pictures were taken in a public facility and it's not right," Wilkins said. "She's associated these pictures with being mayor. That's not the representation that I want to see. People aren't laughing with us, they are laughing at us."

At a council meeting in January, Kontur-Gronquist first heard of the plans by some residents to remove her via a petition and a recall election.

Kontur-Gronquist said at the time that using the photos to try to remove her from office was "low."

"It's cruel," she said. "It doesn't only affect me, it affects my family, it affects the citizens in the community."

The photos date back to August 2004, well before she ever imagined becoming mayor. Kontur-Gronquist says they were taken after a day at the beach with a friend who was a volunteer firefighter.