This morning’s Triplicate coverage on the Grand Jury Report was
disappointing. It saddens me to report the poor coverage written by
reporter Laura Jo Welter. When Ms. Welter called me for a statement Monday afternoon, for my reaction to the Report, she failed to acknowledge in print any of my responses. She also interrupted my responses twice to essentially argue with me, rather than be a good reporter and simply report. Here are examples of what I said and which were not reported:
” It saddens me to see the Del Norte Grand Jury devolve from a seeker of truth to an instrument of political ideology. It is a sad day for Del Norte County.”
” There are missing public funds from the Solid Waste Authority.The
Auditor-Controller says the amount of missing funds is over $25,000. Independent Forensic accountant Don Scanlon concurred. The missing funds are not a result of bad checks as the former Director Kevin Hendrick and the current Director Tedd Ward have alleged. ( Welter interrupted to dispute the amount of missing funds). Whether the amount of lost public funds is $9,000 or $25,000, there is a loss here and it must be reconciled. I will not rest until this crime is fully investigated.”
” I will continue to stand on principle and not be intimidated by a
Grand Jury that has lost its mission. I have done nothing unethical or wrong in expressing my concern to the presiding judge regarding the practices of the Del Norte County Grand Jury.”
None of those attributable quotes made it to the level of ink.
On a separate related issue, ” …Alleging that Gitlin was
antagonistic toward the Authority from the get-go, the Grand Jury
recommends that he be removed from the board. ” ” We’re going to look at the recommendations,” said District 5 County Supervisor David Finigan, who being the chairman, appoints supervisors to various committees and boards. ” We’ve never had ( a Grand Jury) make a recommendation of CENSORSHIP or removal before.”
I observe The Triplicate has no issue in reporting in CAPS my letter
to R3 Consultants including the two small spelling errors ( sic).
Likewise, I am curious to know is the word CENSORSHIP published, a Triplicate error or a misspoken / misinterpreted word by the Chairman. The correct word is CENSURE.
Respectfully,
Roger Gitlin
Supervisor District 1
County of Del Norte
981 H Street
Crescent City, CA 95531
(707) 464-0801 Office
(707) 951-6361 Cell
It is telling that both Ely Naffah and Jim Barnts have served on the Grand Jury when they were both supposed to have been investigated by the Grand Jury in recent years. Disgusting.