Mayor gives his side of story on Saturday accident

Responding to comments on social media that he termed slanderous, Vandalia Mayor Rick Gottman gave during Monday’s city council meeting the details of an auto accident on Saturday in which he was involved.
Gottman said that he was backing from the drive at his mother’s residence when he hit a parked vehicle.
The mayor said he spoke to the owner of the vehicle, and the two parties agreed that since the damage was minor, they agreed to exchange information and have Gottman pay for the damages instead of filing a police report and turning the accident into insurance.
The mayor said that while they were talking, a police officer driving by checked on the accident and did not cite the need for a police report.
However, Gottman changed his mind about filing a report after getting blasted on social media as a way of being transparent about the accident.
The mayor said the damage was estimated to be less than $1,500, and it’s common practice for no police report to be filed in those instances.
Alderman Dorothy Crawford said that most claims for damage under $1,500 filed with her insurance firm are not accompanied by a police report.
Gottman said he felt the need to explain the accident publicly after learning of comments on social media.
“There are many, many untruths” on social media, the mayor said.
“I have nothing to hide – I was not drinking (prior to the accident),” Gottman said, acknowledging that while he attended Wine & Ale with Abe and helped serve patrons, he was not also drinking.
Some of the comments on social media have the mayor thinking about taking legal action, noting that while some of the comments have been removed, he has screenshots of them.
“I will file suit against people slandering me if it comes to that,” Gottman said.