Silly Season: Late Hit Division
We knew it was coming: the late hits, the personal attacks, the unfair characterizations.
The latest is the claim that I - a physician, a member of the Board of Health, and a trustee of Cortland Memorial Hospital - want to eliminate the Health Department. This is an utter falsehood, which began as a misreporting of someone else's comments at the May 2005 Budget & Finance Committee meeting. Read over Item 10, and ask yourself how this resulted in the reporter writing that I wanted to eliminate the Health Department.
The truth is, the reporter himself, Brian Liberatore, issued a correction to the item on Monday, May 16, 2005. He goofed, as we all do, and to his credit, he owned up to his error and printed a retraction.
For the record, when I became aware of the error, which ran in the Saturday edition (5/14/05), I immediately let the Public Health Director and others in the Health Department know that this was an error, and that a retraction would be published.
Audrey Lewis, head of the Environmental Health division, provides these details in an e-mail to me today:
Here is an e-mail from the Public Health Director to Audrey Lewis, sent on the day the retraction appeared (edited only for style, not content):
Just to be clear: this began as an error by the newspaper reporter, and the reliance on that error by the letter writer propagates a false accusation.
I think that someone who steps onto the public stage, whether as a letter writer to the paper or a public official, owes it to the cause of honest public discourse to be forthright. That is why I ask, over and over, for people to share their concerns and questions. I will always answer as honestly as I can, and if I don't know the answer, I will try to find it out. I would never take half the story and spin it into a fable, whether for political gain or otherwise.
My response to the letter that appeared in yesterday's paper will appear in today's paper, and I will post it here later.
UPDATE:
Skip Chapman was kind enough to offer me 250 words to respond, and I did (I hope he didn't count too closely - it's more like 265):
To the Editor:
In a letter to the editor published yesterday, the claim was made falsely that I have called for abolition of the Health Department. I called the letter writer to ask for her source, and she cited this newspaper.
After discussion with Public Health Director Jackie Gailor, we are confident that the citation is to a blatantly erroneous item that led to a correction being published on Monday, May 16, 2005. I have never supported nor ever suggested elimination of the Health Department.
I am a physician who has been in this community for nearly ten years, President of the CMH medical staff for 3 years, a CMH Trustee for 5 years, and on the Board of Health for 2 years. I know health care issues, and I fully support the mission of the County Health Department.
As a legislator, I have exercised oversight while possessing intimate knowledge of Health Department issues. I am proud that close legislative scrutiny has helped to improve both clinical and financial performance.
That some mischaracterize such scrutiny as opposition to the mission - and even the continued existence - of the Health Department is bizarre. I am quite proud of the record I have established as a legislator, particularly as Chairman of the Health Committee. I urge voters to ignore “late hits” (I suspect more are coming), to review my two-year legislative record (http://www.cortland-co.org/Legislature/index.html and http://cortland-co.blogspot.com are recommended), and to call me directly with any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Paul DiGiovanni
First Ward Legislator
5 Ridgeview Avenue
756-6313
The latest is the claim that I - a physician, a member of the Board of Health, and a trustee of Cortland Memorial Hospital - want to eliminate the Health Department. This is an utter falsehood, which began as a misreporting of someone else's comments at the May 2005 Budget & Finance Committee meeting. Read over Item 10, and ask yourself how this resulted in the reporter writing that I wanted to eliminate the Health Department.
The truth is, the reporter himself, Brian Liberatore, issued a correction to the item on Monday, May 16, 2005. He goofed, as we all do, and to his credit, he owned up to his error and printed a retraction.
For the record, when I became aware of the error, which ran in the Saturday edition (5/14/05), I immediately let the Public Health Director and others in the Health Department know that this was an error, and that a retraction would be published.
Audrey Lewis, head of the Environmental Health division, provides these details in an e-mail to me today:
The discussion occurred at a Budget and Finance committee meeting approximate date of May 12th. The article was in the paper on May 14th in the County Roundup column... "Health Department may be dissolved". A retraction was printed on May 16th in the paper's "Making it Right" section.
Here is an e-mail from the Public Health Director to Audrey Lewis, sent on the day the retraction appeared (edited only for style, not content):
-----Original Message-----
From: Jackie Gailor [mailto:jgailor@cortland-co.org]
Sent: Monday, May 16, 2005 3:54 PM
To: Audrey Lewis
Subject: [hlthall] Article in Cortland Standard regarding Health Department
I want to share with you part of an e-mail I received from Dr. DiGiovanni this afternoon.
Jackie:
There was a very misleading short article in the Saturday paper about which I was unaware until this morning. Mike Wells at the paper promises a correction/clarification in tonight's paper. I am very sorry if there are members of the Health Department who may be rattled by this. It is completely inaccurate, and even if they had gotten closer to correct by specifying that the discussion in question centered on Environmental Health, even that wouldn't get them off the hook.
In addition to this, Dr. DiGiovanni sent a copy of the draft minutes of the Budget and Finance Committee Meeting held last Thursday. If you want to see them, they are available on the Cortland County website.
I appreciated his concern about this article and hope that it helps anyone who has a concern about the article.
Jackie
Jacquelyn H. Gailor
Cortland County Public Health Director
607-753-5135
Just to be clear: this began as an error by the newspaper reporter, and the reliance on that error by the letter writer propagates a false accusation.
I think that someone who steps onto the public stage, whether as a letter writer to the paper or a public official, owes it to the cause of honest public discourse to be forthright. That is why I ask, over and over, for people to share their concerns and questions. I will always answer as honestly as I can, and if I don't know the answer, I will try to find it out. I would never take half the story and spin it into a fable, whether for political gain or otherwise.
My response to the letter that appeared in yesterday's paper will appear in today's paper, and I will post it here later.
UPDATE:
Skip Chapman was kind enough to offer me 250 words to respond, and I did (I hope he didn't count too closely - it's more like 265):
To the Editor:
In a letter to the editor published yesterday, the claim was made falsely that I have called for abolition of the Health Department. I called the letter writer to ask for her source, and she cited this newspaper.
After discussion with Public Health Director Jackie Gailor, we are confident that the citation is to a blatantly erroneous item that led to a correction being published on Monday, May 16, 2005. I have never supported nor ever suggested elimination of the Health Department.
I am a physician who has been in this community for nearly ten years, President of the CMH medical staff for 3 years, a CMH Trustee for 5 years, and on the Board of Health for 2 years. I know health care issues, and I fully support the mission of the County Health Department.
As a legislator, I have exercised oversight while possessing intimate knowledge of Health Department issues. I am proud that close legislative scrutiny has helped to improve both clinical and financial performance.
That some mischaracterize such scrutiny as opposition to the mission - and even the continued existence - of the Health Department is bizarre. I am quite proud of the record I have established as a legislator, particularly as Chairman of the Health Committee. I urge voters to ignore “late hits” (I suspect more are coming), to review my two-year legislative record (http://www.cortland-co.org/Legislature/index.html and http://cortland-co.blogspot.com are recommended), and to call me directly with any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Paul DiGiovanni
First Ward Legislator
5 Ridgeview Avenue
756-6313
posted by Doc Paul @ 12:40 PM
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