We suppose it must be chic to get on the band wagon with President Donald Trump and call something “Fake News.”
We were recently called out by Magee’s mayor for “fake news” for publishing a story on the web that quoted the mayor as saying that the city would be broke in five to ten years. He not only said this once, but he made the statement twice and supported it with information from the city’s financial advisor, Brett Duncan.
This was first reported on the web and then in the June 18 print edition. Our website publishes more quickly than the paper, which comes out once a week. The first report of our so-called “fake news” was on the web, and the mayor graciously chose to acknowledge it as a web source.
His second admission was in print in the paper. The paper does not print fake news--you can rest assured that if we published it, it happened or it was said. This is not to say we don’t make mistakes because we do sometimes, and when it is brought to our attention we make a concerted effort to correct the misinformation. But as to his statement about the city going broke, the mayor may have wished he hadn’t say it, but he did.
Then last week he claimed the city was flush with cash. Two and a half million in the general fund. Our question is this: “If you have so much money why, do you want to raise rates on everything you can?” Our streets are in terrible condition all over town. The grass and weeds are out of control. Use that cash to hire some help to correct those issues and leave the reporting to the newspaper.
Half the decisions our city leadership makes are made behind closed doors. That is not how city business should be done, and it is far from the open meetings we expect when you tout being “transparent.” When you discuss city business, with few exceptions, it should be open. Not just when it is convenient, like the last work session, where the media was told they had to leave.
City leaders, read the rules, and if they are unclear we know what they are. Any sub-committee of a public body is subject to the same rules as that public body. Contrary to what some people say.
