The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor A controversial opinion column has Mayor George Fontaine calling on The Reminder to issue a clarification. At Tuesday's council meeting, he said he felt that a June 4 editorial implied that he had personally called low-end homeowners 'freeloaders.' 'I have never called anybody in this community a freeloader,' Mayor Fontaine said. 'That was never my intention to call somebody a freeloader.' The editorial, titled 'Mayor barks up the wrong tree,' argued that Mayor Fontaine and his council's proposal to tack a new fee onto low-value homes risks hurting those who can least afford higher bills. It did not attribute the term 'freeloader' to the mayor, a city councillor or anyone else. Instead, the word was used by the editorial writer (myself) to describe an independent perception of what the proposal implies. The paragraph of concern to the mayor read: 'The implication from all of this is that if you have a smaller, older and thus less valuable home, you are a freeloader, that City Hall has a right, indeed a duty, to reach deeper into your wallet.' A slightly condensed version of this paragraph appeared in large print within the article space as a 'pull quote,' a design feature newspapers use to catch a reader's eye. At the council meeting, The Reminder contended that the article did not ascribe 'freeloader' to the mayor, but he said it was 'insinuated.' 'I'm not for debate on that one. There's going to be clarification on that one,' he said. 'I'm straightforward when I talk to people and I did not insinuate that term and I don't want to have it left like that, so I'd like a public explanation that I never said it.' See 'Fontai...' on pg. 9 Continued from pg. 1 Mayor Fontaine made it clear he is not against differing views, saying 'anybody has a right to an opinion and I'm happy with you having an opinion.' He described council's proposal _ which is by no means finalized _ as a way of 'trying to evenly distribute the tax load.' 'I said that from the (first) day I ran for this position,' said the mayor. 'I'm continuing to say the same words. I have never used a word like 'freeloader' and I've never insinuated that somebody is freeloading. I've said that the tax system is poorly set up and I still believe that. And we're going to try to make changes. 'But I would like to see, as prominently placed in the newspaper, a retraction that says I never used the word 'freeloader' because people out there are feeling insulted and I personally did not insult them.' Feedback For its part, The Reminder has received both positive and negative feedback on the editorial. All of it is appreciated. Outside of city council, no one has conveyed to us that they felt insulted by the column, though that is not to say such a sentiment is absent. In any event, The Reminder believes part of its duty is to offer both straight reporting and independent analysis of the news events of the day. In the nearly seven years since we revived local editorials as a regular feature, these articles have generally generated more feedback _ again both pro and con _ than any other content. We remind our readers we believe everyone should have a voice and that we always welcome letters to the editor on any topic.
