Council
rescinds letter to “The
Scoop”
Council refuses to hear
publisher’s comments
The
Carolina Scoop owner and publisher
Jon Mayhew
December
16, 2011 – From start
to finish, the special called meeting
of the Lincolnton City Council
Wednesday night took less than five
minutes.
At the end of the meeting, Lincolnton
Mayor John Gilleland was preparing
for adjournment when I asked since
the first agenda item related to me
and my publication, I should be
allowed to speak.
And while the Mayor did speak with me
earlier in the day regarding making
comments at a special called meeting,
he threw the option to the City
Council to see if anyone wanted to
let me speak.
Not surprisingly, nobody spoke up.
But that is OK. January 5, none of
the Lincolnton City Council can stop
me from speaking whether it is public
comment or news media sections of the
agenda.
I am releasing a copy of my text
comments below. Instead of five
people and a handful of audience
members hearing the comments, 5,000
to 7,000 readers today can see the
comments.
By the Mayor asking the City Council
to allow me to speak, it clearly put
the issue in the court of the
Council. Of course, the Council is
immune to the truth. They do not
think they have done anything wrong.
The citizens of Lincolnton and myself
think otherwise.
The comments:
Good evening ladies and gentlemen of
the Lincolnton City Council, madam
clerk, City Attorney, City Manager,
colleagues and audience members.
My name is Jon Mayhew, the owner and
operator of The Carolina Scoop, an
Internet newspaper covering Lincoln
County including the City of
Lincolnton.
In operating an Internet newspaper, I
use both recorded and anonymous
sources as part of the five
day-per-week reporting, receiving on
average 5,000 to 7,000 hits per day.
Each and every one of you should be
ashamed of yourselves in what you
attempted to do on December 1 by
voting to send me a letter chastising
me for reporting on the tactics of
City Manager Jeff Emory.
I was and am in shock over the
decision by the Lincolnton City
Council to send my Internet
publication and me this letter. Your
decision has serious First Amendment
implications, both for me personally,
my publication and journalism as a
whole.
The vote, which was illegally taken
in closed session on December 1,
angered me to the point I started
contacting legal counsel as well as
the Centralina Council of Governments
and a Charlotte television station.
I also wrote a series of editorials
outlining what was not done at the
December 1 City Council meeting as
well as standing behind my sources on
the story, something I continue to
do.
I received word from an anonymous
source Tuesday afternoon the letter
issue is dropped as of tonight.
It may have been dropped by the City
Council; however, in my mind, this
issue is far from over.
To ensure something like this,
embarrassing as it may be for the
City, doesn’t happen again, I am
requesting Council officially
reprimand the City Councilman who
came up with the cockamamie idea for
a letter to a member of the media and
to the City Manager for playing
politics on the job.
While disagreement with whatever is
printed is encouraged, a letter
chastising a member of the media sent
from any government body violates the
core of the First Amendment and can
have several implications for years
to come.
Infringing on anyone’s First
Amendment rights – especially
the right of the free press is
totally unacceptable. While letters
are encouraged and printed on
editorial pages frequently, taking a
member of the media to task over any
story has implications of a state-run
media.
The City Council clearly showed on
December 1st the governing body does
not have the City’s best
interest at heart. Instead, certain
members of the City Council have
their own interest at heart, as they
do not want their “dirty
dealings” with the City Manager
to get out in public.
I have previously stated in multiple
editorials Jeff Emory is bad for
Lincolnton and as the City Manager
himself is fond of saying, “is
this the image the City wishes to
project?”
My answer is no. Either reprimand Mr.
Emory or let him go. This stunt
clearly shows the true interest of
the City to attempt to manipulate a
member of the media.
As a friend of mine once said,
“the time for smiles and
handshakes is over.” The City
Council has proven beyond a shadow of
a doubt they would rather
self-preserve than do what is right
by the citizens of the City.
When you mess with the media and the
First Amendment, you are thereby
messing with the voters and the
people of this City.
Journalists do have an enormous power
as our words are meant to convey
messages to the masses. We also have
a responsibility to be the watchdogs
of everything government, whether at
the local, state or national level.
Corruption in government is nothing
new. Journalists have been reporting
on government since the beginning of
time. But when the governing body
even attempts to do business behind
closed doors or infringe on the right
of a Free Press, there are serious
consequences.
As a taxpayer, Internet business
owner and citizen of the City of
Lincolnton, I am requesting once
again the Council officially
reprimand the City Councilman who
came up with the unthinkable idea of
chastising a member of the media
regarding a story and to the City
Manager for playing politics while
under the guise of
“non-partisanship.”
Remember, this is twice now I have
caught the City Manager in political
dealings.
Also, we hear about the City
Manager’s contract but what
about the City Attorney? Since he is
the second appointed official in the
city, why isn’t his contract
voted on in open session?
Something to think about. Thank you
for your time.