Blacksburg Town Council candidate Frank Lau said today that he is responsible for including the names of two residents on some campaign literature without their permission.

Lau said he “inadvertently” left the names of Phyllis Olinger and Rhoda Myers on his list of supporters for the campaign letter distributed around town, which listed the names of 143 people and endorsed him and candidates Krisha Chachra, Greg Fansler and Robert “Tom” Rogers.

Lau said the women’s names “should have been eliminated [from the list] and they weren’t. That’s my mistake.”

“It was all my error. I made the mistake and didn’t realize I had done it until much later,” he said.

Lau said he spoke with the two women last week to explain the situation. “There’s no hard feelings. We’re all friends,” he said.

Olinger and Myers said last week that they were upset because they did not give their permission for their names to be added to the flier.

Myers is the widow of the late Councilman Derek Myers. One of the four at-large seats up for election Tuesday belonged to her husband, who died in February.

Other residents contacted last week who were included on the letter said that they were aware their names would be used and were glad to lend their support.

Rogers and Chachra said last week they both asked for permission from supporters before adding their names to the letter.

Also in the running for the council are incumbent Susan Anderson, John Bush, Bryce Carter, Cecile Newcomb, Michael Sutphin and Paul Lancaster, who has not been actively campaigning because of health reasons.