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Rhonda Thurman
Hamilton County Board of Education member Rhonda Thurman is offering a $750 reward for anyone who can identify the person sending her threats via e-mail.
“Since I’m going to be running for office again (in August) and out in the public more, I’m not going to deal with it,” she said.
Ms. Thurman said the threats began last year when she received an e-mail from someone at puddster@yahoo.com saying things such as, “I know what you fear,” and “You will resign.” Around that time, someone also drove a car through her yard twice.
“The person said they were listening to my conversations both private and public, so I’m wondering, are they at my house?” she said.
After Ms. Thurman appeared on a talk radio station on Feb. 20 with board members Chester Bankston and Kenny Smith, she said the station received a warning e-mail from a Dr. Richard Brombeck at rbrombeck@yahoo.com. Ms. Thurman said no such doctor exists, and there is no phone listing for a Richard Brombeck in Chattanooga or the surrounding areas.
“(His) e-mail said that they didn’t need to let the likes of me back on the radio,” she said.
Ms. Thurman said her gut feeling is that the e-mail came from the same person, who she said also created the Web site www.hcboardwatch.com. The site was not functioning as of Thursday afternoon.
Ms. Thurman said she had no problem debating school issues but said the person e-mailing her was cowardly for hiding behind fictitious names.
Mr. Bankston said it is only a matter of time before someone figures out who has been threatening Ms. Thurman.
“I think anybody who wants to threaten an elected official, they should go to jail,” he said.
Ms. Thurman said she has turned in all suspicious e-mails to the Chattanooga Police Department.
Kelli Gauthier covers K-12 education in Hamilton County for the Times Free Press. She started at the paper as an intern in 2006, crisscrossing the region writing feature stories from Pikeville, Tenn., to Lafayette, Ga. She also covered crime and courts before taking over the education beat in 2007. A native of Frederick, Md., Kelli came south to attend Southern Adventist University in Collegedale, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in print journalism. Before newspapers, ...
