Colleague of Mesquite councilman resigns from nonprofit board
A founding member of a Mesquite nonprofit who sat on the board with a city councilman embroiled in a series of controversial political mailers has resigned.
Kimberly Woolsey submitted her resignation to Mesquite Works on Wednesday, shortly after the Las Vegas Review-Journal published a story that detailed, in part, Mesquite City Councilman George Gault’s involvement in the drafting of at least one political mailer last fall.
The letters were distributed to Mesquite residents in October and included details of an alleged sexual assault, ultimately leading to the identification of the accuser, who was 16 at the time. The city has been fractured ever since.
Citing the newspaper’s story in an announcement on Facebook, Woolsey wrote: “After recent events and statements by my colleague, I have no choice but to resign immediately. I simply wouldn’t be able to look my daughter in the eye or myself in the mirror otherwise.”
She later confirmed her resignation to the Review-Journal.
“It was a difficult decision,” she said. “I love Mesquite Works and what they do for our community. I am positive they will continue to do good work.”
Woolsey was a founding member of Mesquite Works, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to help “the positive growth of Mesquite’s economic base” by providing resources to connect employers with job seekers.
Gault could not be reached for comment on Monday.
In the aftermath of the letters, Gault, on numerous occasions, publicly discussed the criminal case.
“You remember being in love as a teenager,” Gault said during a City Council meeting after the letters hit Mesquite mailboxes. “You remember the days you were absolutely convinced that you were so in love with that person that you would do anything to keep that relationship.”
He concluded: “I think that was pretty much what was going on here. This is not a case about sexual assault.”
The accuser, Kylee Tobler, was in the audience that evening. She told the Review-Journal in June that she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“These people don’t know me. If I pass them in the grocery store or on the street, I would have no idea who these people are, but they thought that they were justified in giving their opinion on whether I was assaulted or not, or whether things were handled correctly,” she said. “It was put out in a political mailer, but this was not a political topic.”
A day after the Review-Journal’s story was published online, Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford released the following statement:
“Citizens must be able to trust their law enforcement officers to do their jobs ethically, and prosecutors to make their decisions based on evidence and constitutional requirements. It is essential that, in the course of our duties as law enforcement, the rights and privacy of victims are protected, and citizens’ tax dollars are used appropriately. I urge anyone with information about a potential violation of state law to file a complaint with our office.”
The office may be contacted by email at aginquiries@ag.nv.gov.
Contact Rio Lacanlale at rlacanlale@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Follow @riolacanlale on Twitter.