Fred Schmidt becomes Bill Tillotson for a day
 
COLUMBIA, 4/9/12  (Beat Byte) -- In two questions about how to "unsubscribe" from a First Ward listserv he has belonged to since 2006, First Ward Columbia City Councilman Fred Schmidt attached the name "RoboBill" to both his professional and official Columbia City Council emails.  
 
"RoboBill" was the facetious nickname supporters of 6th Ward Columbia City Councilwoman Barbara Hoppe gave her opponent Bill Tillotson, as he prowled Facebook removing negative comments and posting notes that appeared either automatically generated -- or completely inane.  

"Great meeting with the Columbia Unit NAACP last night," RoboBill posted, for instance, the day BEFORE a meeting Tillotson never attended
 
For reasons that are not clear, Mr. Schmidt assumed Tillotson's alter-ego right after this publication wrote about in a story on the Sixth Ward candidate's highly-controversial negative campaign.   Mr. Schmidt sent the questions the day of that report, one day before the municipal election.   

"There is no unsubscribe option," wrote "RoboBill <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>" -- Mr. Schmidt's professional email. 

"There is no unsubscribe option.  I never subscribed in the first place," he wrote from RoboBill <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>, his official Columbia City Council email. 

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