We weren’t entirely surprised to hear some News out of Wellington North that was not too complimentary.
After uncovering a series of meetings that were held illegally and reporting on it, our local reporter was chastised by the mayor there for being too negative about Wellington North.
That negativity makes the community look bad, he suggested.
This latest snafu – meeting outside the law not once, but four times – follows reports earlier this term when a resident challenged council’s inappropriate actions with respect to retroactively rebating development charges.
At the time that resident felt the mayor’s scorn evidenced by an idle threat to sue the individual if he didn’t stop poking away at council and staff.
In the end, Mayor Tout issued an apology to Jens Dam, but we have told our reporter not to hold his breath hoping for the same treatment.
Being a reporter is a tough line of work, made more difficult when they are a member of the community on which they report. The towns and townships of Wellington are not large enough to preclude the chance that members of council could be acquaintances or friends. That makes the job even tougher, when relationships are strained by requests to back off or ignore a story. It’s a conundrum.
It has long been the policy of this publication to report without fear or favour by publishing accurate accounts and thoughtful opinion that helps readers connect the dots between what is being said and what is actually going on. With respect to local government our focus remains a steadfast insistence on good procedure and adherence to the rule of law.
Bending rules, doing favours, skirting the law – these are all practices that if left unchecked lead to larger issues. A culture of deceit easily develops when the most basic of rules are ignored. For councils that wish to avoid negative ink, the answer is obvious: don’t engage in improper and illegal activities. Inexperience and whimsy are no excuse.
While the press plays the role of cheerleader, celebrating with aplomb and best wishes when communities do something well, there are times the News won’t be so positive.
By virtue of office, politicians factor in often as the community leaders of record in articles and photos. Like much in life, there are ups and downs in public life too.
Though Tout is just the latest to employ the “negative press” message, he will not be the last.
