McKinleyville Press - From the Editor
By Jack Durham date: 9/05
When it comes to letters to the editor, the McKinleyville Press has always had a hands-off policy. Readers submit letters and we print them. There are no limits on the length of letters nor the number that can be submitted.
We do require writers to sign their names, but we've foregone the process of calling them to verify their identities, instead relying on the honor system.
But that's changed since it was revealed last week that Richard Salzman, a local political activist, has been submitting letters to local newspapers using fake names. As first reported by Hank Sims of the North Coast Journal, Salzman has submitted letters under the names "R. Trent Williams" and "Dick Wyatt," among others.
Those letters appeared in the McKinleyville Press and several other local publications.
Salzman's hoax is significant considering that he is active in local liberal causes and sometimes works as a paid political consultant. He worked on the campaigns of Fifth District Supervisor Jill Geist, District Attorney Paul Gallegos and Eureka City Councilman Chris Kerrigan.
In Salzman's deceptive letters, he praised Gallegos and lashed out at the D.A.'s critics. He's also attacked Supervisor Geist, who he now considers a traitor because she didn't stand behind Gallegos' unsuccessful fraud lawsuit against Pacific Lumber.
By writing the letters under different names supposedly living in different communities, Salzman was apparently attempting to show widespread support for his views. But it was just a fraud - ironically coming from the same person who helped form the so-called Alliance for Ethical Business.
Now that Salzman's tactics have been revealed, it's probably safe to assume that he lied when he denied printing and distributing the "Dump Geist" bumper stickers that were floating around town. Those stickers are consistent with Salzman's political tactics.
The McKinleyville Press apologizes for printing Salzman's letters and, from now on, we'll do our best to confirm the identity of letter writers. But that might not always be easy. The Times-Standard reported in its Saturday, Sept. 3, issue that it had actually called a number provided in one of Salzman's hoax letters and got what was apparently a bogus confirmation.
Fortunately, for most letters this shouldn't be a problem. Being that this is a small town, we often know the letter writers personally. We know their email addresses and their writing styles. Sometimes envelopes arrive in the mail we know who they're from based on the handwriting.
We won't have to call people for all the letters we receive, but if the name is unfamiliar or the content of the letter is politically charged, we'll have to make a phone call. So letter writers will now need to include a phone number. Please note that we will not print or release the phone number without your approval. We just need it for confirmation purposes.
This will create some extra work and may delay the printing of some letters. However, with people like Salzman abusing the system, we don't have much choice.
Writing under a pen name is one thing, but what about sending anonymous emails to people threatening them with physical harm?
This happened to the Arcata Eye beginning last fall when a cowardly twit using the name "Jan Johnson" started sending emails to the newspaper and its staff. The threats were reported in last week's North Coast Journal.
So who's the perp that tried to intimidate the paper's staff members and had them looking over their shoulders for months? It was revealed that the emails were sent from the part-time workplace of Shawn Warford, editor/publisher of the Humboldt Advocate.
A computer experts and police identified the emails as coming from the computer at the Arcata Chamber of Commerce. Those emails were always sent on Saturday - a day when Warford was the lone-employee in the chamber office.
The Arcata Chamber promptly fired Warford, as any responsible organization would do.
After all, who supports terror and threats of violence on the North Coast? Most of us try to be respectful of each other's opinions. If we disagree, we can always have a spirited public debate. We can battle each other with reasoned arguments and put our opponents to shame with iron-clad facts and overwhelming logic. The opinion pages of local publications should allow this debate to take place. And if one publication censors a person's views, there's always another publication to take its place.
But what if someone decides that an honest debate is not enough? What if a person decides to send threats? What if someoe attempts to instill fear among those he disagrees with?
That person should be banished from our community. We are a county of diverse political interests and we need to learn to get along. We may not agree with each other, but we're neighbors. Show a little respect,
Besides publishing the Advocate, Warford also works at the Northcoast Environmental Center. It makes one wonder - if you don't toe the party line when it comes to environmental issues, might you be subject to threatening emails? Time will tell, as Warford continues to be an employee of the NEC.
It's a disturbing situation. Let's hope apologies are forthcoming, and people of differing political views can, at the very least, agree to respect their neighbors and fellow community members, Violence, in any form, is completely unacceptable
Fortunately, there are plenty of positive things going on in town.
There is a full slate of candidates for the McKinleyville Community Services District Board of Directors. We'll be writing about these candidates in the coming weeks. The McKinleyville Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring a candidates' forum from 7 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept, 14, at Azalea Hall. All seven candidates for the three open seats on the MCSD Board have been invited to participate, according to the chamber.
Work continues on the marsh projects at Hiller Park. I visited the two construction sites last week and couldn't make heads or tails of what they were doing - just piles of dirt, holes and berms. But it should be taking shape within less than a month's time and will soon be transformed into a series of marshes, with lots of trails and bird-watching opportunities.
Speaking of critters, lots of animals are being adopted from the Humboldt County Animal Shelter. A lot of people deserve thanks, including the shelter staff and our "Shelter Correspondent" Jean Durbin. Durbin is getting the word out about these animals and the public is responding by giving them permanent homes. And hats off to Paige. She visits the shelter often and helps find homes for the animals.
People should do at least two things this week - first, make a donation to hurricane relief efforts and, second, stock up on emergency supplies.
If the Katrina hurricane has taught us anything it's that we better be prepared to fend for ourselves for at least a week after "The Big One" hits.
New Orleans is a major metropolitan area and a vital U.S. seaport. In comparison, McKinleyville is a tiny town isolated behind the Redwood Curtain. If it takes four or five days to get help in New Orleans, how long will it take before help arrives in McKinleyville after a major disaster?
It could be a week, or more. You'll be on your own. Do you have enough food and water to survive for seven days? Do you have enough medicine? If you have children, do you have extra diapers? Baby food? How about your pets? Do you have enough dog food for them? Cat food?
A little extra planning now and a few dollars in supplies could make a major difference when disaster strikes.
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the North Coast Journal - Web of Lies - Richard Salzman and other email phonies (The paper won a CNPA Award for this story.)
From the Publisher: An apology
Rhonda Meehan's letter
http://www.northcoastjournal.com/090105/cover0901.html#Rhonda
Letters from "R. Trent Williams" printed by the Journal
Glossary of terms
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