I was so pleased to see former Mayor Art Washkowiak set the record straight with the News Tribune in March 11th’s edition of that paper. On page A4 Matt Baker printed Art’s response to the column written by Craig Sterrett earlier in the week. Mr Sterrett suggested that investors and the city officials were fooled by the Frontier Lodge developers and implied the whole thing was a scam from inception. He also stated that the city ran water and sewer across Rt 80 specifically for this project. Mayor Art explained that the city had run the water and sewer to that area much earlier under a grant in 1999. I was on the council at that time and recall the conversations concerning that project. We wanted to be ready for expansion and have the infrastructure in place to help draw development to that area.
Mr Sterrett once again showed his inability or refusal to do the research before he writes his column. Facts apparently get in the way of a good story where Mr Sterrett is concerned. At least Matt Baker had the decency to correct the history involved. I guess it would have been too much to expect an apology from Craig after he painted city officials as simpletons when it comes to doing our due diligence.
I stated that Craig once again showed his inability to do the research because he wrote a column about me regarding a city road project that was also lacking facts. It was in regards to replacing a street in the northern section of town. It ’s in my fourth ward and Mr Sterrett suggested my support was do the the “fact” that I had a business on that street.
He wrote the column without even checking with me as to whether I did in fact have a business there. I DID NOT. When I called him he told me he thought I had a business there and that someone told him I had one there. I explained that all he had to do prior to the story was to make a phone call to verify. But if he had done that it would have changed the story and changed his angle which was to put me in a bad light as a city official. His apology which appeared days later in the back of the paper stated that the paper wanted to report an error. But instead of stating the paper was wrong and I did not have a business on that street they merely printed that I denied having a business located there. Some apology.
If Craig had any class he would write a column of apology and not leave it to Matt Baker to correct ”his errors”. As News Editor of the paper isn’t it his job to check the accuracy of those news stories? Maybe its time to give that position to Matt Baker….what do you think?
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