Contempt is not just what a politician says in a single ugly moment. It is a habit that shows up over time. Amy Drake’s public remarks and newsletters about South Bend, older homeowners, her district, her critics and her political opponents, show that habit clearly enough: “shithole,” “end of their life,” “poor areas,” “mean girls,” “grifters”, and “a pack of wolves.”
On January 29, We reported that Drake called South Bend a “****hole” in a face-to-face exchange. When she later responded to our report in writing, she did not say we got it wrong. She did not say she never used the word. She wrote instead that we had made the claim “without any proof,” then added: “I certainly don’t remember saying that!”
That is about as close as a politician can come to not denying something.
While pitching her tax-deferral plan for homeowners 55 and older, Drake spoke about likely applicants in terms of age and death. In her self published “Drake Report” newsletter, she said the deferred taxes would be repaid when “the senior finishes living out his final years in his home.” Drake also said during a County Council meeting that those 55-and-older applicants were “probably at the end of their life.” These were the very residents the plan was supposed to help. Drake chose to describe them as people nearing death.
She used similarly cold language about the district she represents. In a 2023 newsletter, Drake wrote that her district has “a lot of poor areas.”
Put those remarks side by side and the picture is unambiguous. South Bend, the area Drake was elected to represent, becomes a vulgar insult. Older homeowners become people near the end of life. Parts of her district became “poor.” The people change. The contempt does not.
Drake has a tendency to turn former friends and political allies into enemies.
Her other newsletters drive that even harder. In one March 2026 message, Drake described figures inside the local Republican Party as “a pack of wolves,” “mean girls,” “infantile men with recording equipment,” and “grifters.” She wrote of a “vindictive” effort to keep some people on top and make sure others were “crushed.” In another newsletter, she described local coverage as “negative and fake news stories,” called one outlet a “propaganda site,” and cast criticism as part of a smear effort. In another, she called local government conflict “drama,” “stage show,” “payback,” and “despicable game playing.” She also invented the phrase “The Russian Hoax of St. Joe County” when a resident asked his County Council to investigate alleged fraud.
This is how Drake talks.
Opponents are not simply wrong. They are labeled wolves, grifters, and conspirators in a hoax. Critics are not legitimate. They are fake. Public conflict is not disagreement. It is treachery, spectacle, and payback.
Her defenders will call that bluntness or bravery. They will say Drake is just more direct than the average officeholder. But bluntness is not the issue. Plenty of politicians are direct without calling a city a ““****hole.” Plenty can argue for seniors without describing people 55 and older as near “the end of their life.” Plenty can acknowledge hardship without writing off parts of their district as “poor.”
Words matter because they show voters what a politician thinks she can say out loud. They show who gets respect and who does not. Drake shows a repeated habit of sneering at critics, flattening constituents, and talking about public life as if respect is optional.
That habit has a name. It is contempt.
Logan Foster
Logan Foster founded Redress South Bend and reports on local government and public records in South Bend and St. Joseph County. He is 31 years old and is majoring in finance. He is a Cleveland sports fan and a longtime season ticket holder of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
