Dear Editor,

{sidebar id=1}Wakulla News’ writer Bill Snowden once again, in his court report on Dec. 6, refers to us as activists.  We wonder why.

Activists, the dictionary says, are those who emphasize direct vigorous action in support of or opposition to one side of a controversial issue.

Our first point, then, is that we are not aware that taking vigorous action for honesty, integrity and accountability in Wakulla County government is a “controversial issue.”  We feel it shouldn’t be.

Apparently Mr. Snowden feels that it is because, instead of sticking to the facts, he expresses that as his opinion in his court report.

We would also like to point out that Mr. Snowden failed to report the fact, as stated in court documents, that Commissioner Maxie Lawhon and then-Commissioner Mike Stewart erred in 2004 when they mailed flyers throughout Wakulla County calling us blatant liars for mailing pamphlets telling people that they voted to haul water out of Wakulla County.

No. 1, court documents show we did not print the pamphlets.

No. 2, court documents show we did not mail the pamphlets; in fact we had no knowledge of them until they were delivered by the U. S. Postal Service.

And, No. 3, court documents show (and later Lawhon and Stewart admitted in print in The Wakulla News), that the pamphlets printed and sent by the members of the Wakulla Independent Voters told the truth.

Also troubling us about Mr. Snowden’s report is that he correctly defines defamation as a false statement published with malice, but he omitted the fact that Lawhon’s and Stewart’s use of our names, not just the name of the Wakulla Independent Voters, the PAC that published the pamphlet, is indicative of malice toward us.

Unfortunately Mr. Snowden continues his pattern of publishing inaccuracies by calling the citizens’ organization, of which we were officers, the Wakulla Voters Association instead of correctly calling it the Wakulla Independent Voters, as plainly stated in court documents.

We would like to acknowledge that we have been very vocal about the way our tax dollars are spent, and we have been thanked for our work by some elected officials (four to be exact), county employees and private citizens.

Since our persistence has brought about some changes in Wakulla County government, we will continue with our efforts, in spite of Mr. Snowden’s opinionated articles.

Call us liars, activists, or whatever you like.  And while you are doing that, take time to check records and you will see our information is accurate.

Sincerely,

Dana Peck and Jimmie Doyle
Crawfordville, Florida

This letter originally published on December 10, 2007.

Written by :

Jimmie Doyle

 

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