A Texan mayor has resigned after accusing his snowed-in residents of being 'lazy', telling them to 'get off your a** and take ...
A Texan mayor has resigned after accusing his snowed-in residents of being 'lazy', telling them to 'get off your a** and take care of your own family' in the midst of a storm that wiped out power for a swathe of the region.
Tim Boyd, mayor of Colorado City, went viral with his Facebook post on Tuesday
Tim Boyd, mayor of Colorado City, 220 miles west of Fort Worth, voiced his frustrations at the town's 4,000 residents on Facebook.
'No one owes you are your family anything; nor is it the local government's responsibility to support you during trying times like this!' he wrote on Tuesday morning.
'The City and County, along with power providers or any other service owes you NOTHING!'
Data from Oncor Electric Delivery, which serves about 4,400 customers in Colorado City's ZIP code, showed that 1,304 of them were without power at 9pm on Tuesday. The temperature was 23 degrees.
Boyd continued at length, saying that he was 'sick and tired' of people looking for handouts and that the current situation is 'sadly a product of a socialist government.'
Boyd told the residents of his town 'the weak will perish'. Pictured is Dallas, 220 miles away
'Only the strong will survive and the weak will perish,' he wrote.
Boyd has since taken the post down, but screenshots of the image went viral.
Several hours later, he said he stood by his sentiments but should have phrased it better and been 'more descriptive'.
'I would never want to hurt the elderly or anyone that is in true need of help to be left to fend for themselves,' Boyd said.
'I was only making the statement that those folks that are too lazy to get up and fend for themselves but are capable should not be dealt a handout.'
Boyd accused the townsfolk of being lazy. Pictured is Richardson, Texas on Tuesday
Colorado City, Texas, as it usually looks. More than 25 per cent are currently without power
The former mayor said that his family had been harassed as a result of his post, and his wife had lost her job.
'Please understand if I had it to do over again I would have just kept my words to myself and if I did say them I would have used better wording and been more descriptive,' he wrote.
'The anger and harassment you have caused my wife and family is so undeserved....my wife was laid off of her job based off the association people gave to her and the business she worked for. She's a very good person and was only defending me!
'But her to have to get fired from her job over things I said out of context is so horrible. I admit, there are things that are said all the time that I don't agree with; but I would never harass you or your family to the point that they would lose there livelihood such as a form of income.'
Boyd also claimed that he had resigned before making Tuesday morning's post, and was speaking only as a citizen, not an elected official.
'I had already turned in my resignation and had not signed up to run for mayor again on the deadline that was February 12th!' he said.
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