Trolling NextDoor - Who is Mahra? Who is Rae Fae?
Many of us who visit Nextdoor, a social media blog with over 4,000 Oro Valley members, were surprised by the lengthy and detailed posts from Mahra Solberg, a relatively new member. These posts consistently stated the mayor's positions and talking points, often with great disdain toward those with opposing views.
Multiple individuals began to question whether "Mahra" was actually Mayor Satish Hiremath trolling residents to boost his re-election campaign.
"Let Oro Valley Excel", a local news source, conducted a thorough investigation of the Nextdoor posts and reported it on their site: letorovalleyexcel.blogspot.com. We believe this information should be shared with all who seek to make an educated decision prior to the August 28 primary election.
Did Mayor Hiremath Use A Fake Name To Post On Social Media?
Help us solve the mystery
Is it possible that Mayor Hiremath has been engaging in conversations about Oro Valley on social media using a fake name?
Is it possible that Hiremath was making his views in opposition to others using a fake name?
Who, we ask, was posting as "Mahra" on Nextdoor, a social media web site? Many think it was Hiremath using a fake name. Hiremath "sort of" denied it [His full text statement appears at the end of this posting]. We present the facts based on LOVE's extensive research. You be the judge.
These are the facts
Fact: Oro Valley resident Don Cox created a posting on May 24 on Nexdoor.com. He said that he was going to be an Oro Valley election fact checker. (Extensive commenting followed, much of which challenged his ability to be an "independent" fact checker.)
"Fake accounts, deployed by governments, criminals and entreprenuers, now infest social media networks." New York Times
Oro Valley Mayor Satish Hiremath
Fact: Several weeks ago, posts favorable to Mayor Hiremath appeared. They were posted under the names of "Mahra" and "Rae Fay."
Fact: Last week, a commenter said that he thought that Mayor Hiremath was posting under the name Mahra and that Don Cox was posting under the name "Rae Fay".
Fact: Mahra Solberg is Hiremath's teenage daughter. Rachel Fay (aka Rae Fay) is the teenage daughter of Hiremath supporter, Douglas Seeman.
Fact: Hiremath posted on the thread last week: "I am not Mahra and Don Cox is not Rae Fay."
Fact: In his posting, Mayor Hiremath denied being a person named Mahra. He does not deny participating in the creation of the post. He does not deny causing the post to be made. He does not deny making the post.
Fact: Mahra signed posts as being from Monte Del Oro community. Hiremath signed his post as being from the Desert Greens community. Hiremath lives in the Monte Del Oro Community.
Fact: In his posting, Hiremath stated that he knew Mahra and Rae Fay and that he was going to tell them to stop posting. There were no further postings. Mahra and Rae Fay are no longer members of nextdoor.com. Though they are no longer members, their posts remain on the site.
Fact: Commenters subsequent to Hiremath's posting provided logical evidence that he did indeed have at least some role in the postings.
"When I read (Mahra's) 600 word essay attacking my post I knew it was (Hiremath). The essay directly followed the town’s December 2014 presentation supporting the El Con purchase. No one else would have committed the El Con deal justification to memory and be able to spit it back up on demand other than the architect of the deal."
Fact: "The posts got longer and longer", according to a commenter. "This is classic Hiremath. Never stopping for a breath in order to drown out any opposing view."
Fact: Other commenters noted that Mahra posts included "...Thousands of words all with detailed knowledge of Hiremath’s positions on everything from the golf losses to bonding, to development, to the last minute pulling a playground forward in the budget, to denying developer influence."
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Statement of Oro Valley Mayor Satish Hiremath on nexdoor.com:
Satish Hiremath, Desert Greens at Oro Valley
To the readers of NextDoor:
Please accept my sincere apologies. I was made aware this morning that there is a political discussion going on, on this site, and there are some individuals that this it is me who is posting under a pseudonym. My name is Satish Hiremath and I am the current Mayor. If anyone wants to reach me and have a political discussion, feel free to contact me at hiremath.orovalley@gmail.com or shiremath@orovalleyaz.gov.
Out of respect to the other readers who could care less about politics I would encourage everyone to respect the fact that this site was not created to be used as a political forum. In going over the threads, I happen to know Mahra and Rae Fay and will tell them to stop posting on this site as well as it is not appropriate. Again, all questions about politics should be addressed to me at the above mentioned emails. In closing, I will state three things: 1) to the innocent readers of NextDoor, I offer my sincere apologies for you having to listen to political discussions that shouldn't be discussed here, 2) I am not Mahra and Don Cox is not Rae Fay, and lastly 3) This be my first and last post on NextDoor. Thank you.
Respectfully,
Satish Hiremath
Mayor
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