The Union Bay Improvement District has so far spent upwards of $20,000 in a civil suit against Union Bay resident Mary Reynolds, whom the district and other plaintiffs are suing for alleged defamatory material that appeared on her blog All Things Union Bay and on her vehicle.UBID board chair Alan de Jersey said the civil action was necessitated by "unprovoked personal and malicious attacks against past and present board members" and UBID administrator Brenda Fisher. It is also intended to preserve the UBID's integrity and to protect future trustees from similar attacks. de Jersey said the blog criticized the board for being inaccessible and the district for not responding to complaints. At the time, David McDowell was chair. "I know for a fact that these things were responded to, but they weren't responded to her satisfaction. She didn't like the answers," de Jersey said, noting he does not know Reynolds on a personal level.The board sought a legal opinion that said Reynolds' words and actions were defamatory and malicious. However, because it would cost too much to proceed, the board tried to ignore the problem. "It never went away, and it got more and more disgusting, and more and more personal," said de Jersey, noting her material included pictures of him morphed into Barney Fife. "How the hell do we ever get anybody interested in running as a trustee in that area if they're subject to that kind of attack?" he asked. The board filed a court action for an injunction to shut down the blog. He said Reynolds signed a consent order agreeing to remove it, along with articles that appeared in the Cumberlander publication, and public signage that displayed malicious and defamatory words. However, she then breached the order by slamming the board on another blog, de Jersey said."This is why we proceeded with the contempt of court order against her. Basically, we're getting blamed for all these legal costs, where in fact it's her that's created the legal costs. It should have been dealt with by the consent order...She has put us in the position where we can't not do anything. Unfortunately, it's costing money."Reynolds said the consent order prevents her from commenting on individuals named in the defamation suit.reporter@comoxvalleyrecord.com