The city of Prosser, Washington rescinded its annual entry to a local Halloween decorating contest after a woman complained to the city management. The display in question was a "Karen-cature," including a scarecrow in a garden wearing a "Can I Speak to the Manager?" t-shirt and a name tag that read "Karen."

The woman who "complained to the manager," Maricela Sanchez, insists the scarecrow is an effigy of her because she leads a group called "Friends of Prosser," which fought City Hall in opposition to their $16.8 million bond package to replace Prosser's City Hall and Police Station.

Sanchez is an avid gardener and has black hair. She says that she has been called a "Karen" by City Hall and Prosser residents because of her diligent opposition to what she considers an extravagant bond package.

She said,

This past weekend, City Hall entered an annual Halloween decorating contest with a ghoulish scarecrow dressed up to look like me. Several people who understood the context behind the display immediately complained to the city. Prosser City Hall engaged in targeted, public harassment of a private Prosser citizen on public grounds. They created a grotesque effigy to publicly humiliate a city resident as retaliation for opposing a city bond proposal on the upcoming ballot.

City Manager Thomas Glover ordered the display to be removed, but he insists that the display was not meant to target anyone.

"It's just unfortunate that some people decided it was targeted toward a resident," he said. "I think it got out of hand."

Residents of the city were split between complaining that the display was mean and derogatory toward women named Karen and to "ALL the women in the Greater Prosser Area" and laughing hysterically about the display being removed because of a complaint to the manager.

Count me in the latter camp.