Higher hopes for election coverage
In the Indy's recent local election coverage (Endorsements: "Growth doesn't have to be painful," Oct. 24, 2007) the editorial staff published the following statement, "[Sharon] Cook, who has served on the [Carrboro] planning board, and [Katrina] Ryan oppose the county's proposed, controversial waste-transfer station on Rogers Road, ostensibly on behalf of a nearby African-American neighborhood. However, it is hard to tell if their advocacy is genuine, as the neighborhood and the landfill have co-existed for many years and Cook and Ryan have only recently complained."
With a little research, the Indy editorial staff would have found ample evidence that Katrina and I were committed to the Rogers Road-Eubanks community long before election season. For example, I advocated for uniting both sides of Rogers Road into one community during Carrboro's annexation public hearing in November 2004 and in local media guest columns. In October 2006, Ms. Ryan and I petitioned the BOA to add the neighborhood to the town's sidewalk construction plans. And in January 2007, immediately after the community was informed about plans to build a new waste facility, we began working with our neighbors to reverse the decision to site a waste transfer station along Eubanks Road. Documentation of our advocacy is easily accessible from Board of Aldermen and Orange County Commissioners minutes, and local newspaper coverage. And for the record, I continue to serve on the Town's planning board.
The Independent's editorial staff has the right to publish their opinion. However, with that right comes the responsibility for researching and basing those opinions upon documented facts. Your false characterization of Mike Kelley, Katrina Ryan and me should give all of the Indy's readers concern for the accuracy of the facts used to support this paper's endorsements. With the May primary campaigns already beginning, I hope your readers will hold you to a higher standard of coverage.
Sharon Cook
Carrboro
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