Go VDT!
There are so many potential applications of today’s
editorial in the Valdosta Daily Times,
from animals, to prisons, to zoning code enforcement, to biomass:
But there are still those who don’t understand the purpose of
a newspaper, and it’s clearly not to be a marketing tool for the
community. In addition to reporting the news of the day, a newspaper’s
job as a member of the “fourth estate,” so deemed by Thomas Jefferson,
is to hold public officials accountable for their actions.
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“When officials act like they are hiding something, they usually are.”
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To The Times and its editorial board, it’s far worse for the
community’s image to have public officials knowingly lie, illegally
withhold public documents and try to bully those who are only after
the truth.
When officials act like they are hiding something, they usually are. You
can’t be accused of lying if you don’t lie. You won’t receive an
open-records request if you answer questions honestly and in accordance
with the law.
Companies looking to settle in a community are understanding when it
comes to crime, as it happens everywhere. But far more interesting to
them is the honesty and integrity of the community’s officials.
If an entity will lie and withhold information from the local news media
and the citizens, why would industry expect any different?
There was an old game show called Truth or Consequences. Too often, some
entities ignore the truth and are surprised by the consequences. Sadly,
the public too often feels the consequences when it could use a little
truth.
Now let’s see them apply the same standard to
CUEE,
or can the VDT not see through the bogus claims of an organization it supports?
-jsq
“You won’t receive an open-records request if you answer questions
honestly and in accordance with the law.” What an honest statement;
perhaps some of this too.
