Mayor John Green has made it very clear he is not happy with the media, implying that the Advertiser and its sister publication The Community News have left information out of stories and printed inaccuracies and rumours on more than one occasion.
Though he failed to provide specific examples, Green lashed out at the press several times at last week’s council meeting during a delegation presentation by Dale Franklin.
As chairman of the Mapleton Arena Xpansion committee (MAX), Franklin was at the meeting to inform council that fundraising volunteers were worried that delaying the PMD arena expansion because of roof concerns would result in a loss of momentum for the committee.
She said she was very concerned when she read about the possible delay. That article appeared in the May 2 Advertiser and Community News.
Green later said Franklin should come to the township for information from now on and not rely on the Newspaper. He added that he is currently “not very happy” with certain members of the press.
Several minutes later, when Franklin told councillors they should have made their preference for a pitched roof known sooner, Green said he has held that position from “day one,” and he again mentioned Newspaper coverage.
“If the press missed that, talk to the press,” he told Franklin. “It wouldn’t be the first time they were wrong.”
Both Newspapers did, however, indicate Green was opposed to the “flat” roof several times in the May 2 articles, including the following direct quote from the mayor: “I’m not a big fan of a flat roof.”
But Green did not end his diatribe against the press there.
Later on during the delegation, Franklin compared the delay for the arena to long delays for the township’s medical building, and said the committee is concerned about rumours in the community.
Green, referring to the Advertiser reporter at the meeting, replied, “Talk to the man in the corner. He’s the one that starts the rumours.”
Last week was not the first time the mayor expressed his displeasure with the same reporter. Earlier this month, when contacted by the reporter for a follow-up story to the pay equity article of April 25, Green’s first comment was, “You’re the one that made an issue out of it, not me.”
He also chastised the reporter for not knowing “how pay equity works” and for not doing enough “research” to write a story on the topic.
