Inside UDJ by Editor K.C. Meadows

Members of the Ukiah Valley Smart Growth coalition have put out a notice, several copies of which were forwarded to me by email, saying that my blog entry last week about a meeting of UVSG members to discuss a recall of Jim Wattenburger was false. A couple of members emailed me personally to accuse me of recklessly (a la Joe McCarthy no less) spreading false rumors.
Here's what I say: If they are concerned about false rumors they should look to the people they interact with. Someone who is close to that group (they don't have official "membership") told a UDJ employee right here in the office about the purported meeting, saying it was being organized by a subgroup of UVSG. This is a source I trust, a source that has always been truthful with me.
This blog is a place where I am indeed to going to continue to pass along things I hear from reliable sources. The easiest way to respond to things is to comment directly to the blog. I don't pass things along that I know are false and I don't pass things along simply to make people mad. But If I hear something I think is true depending on the source, yes I am going to let people know about it. The fact that we are printing the blog in the newspaper on Sundays to let people know it's out there (something many people have said they like) has perhaps given it more gravitas than it deserves, but it's still just a blog. A blog is a place where I am going to feel free to say things I think are happening, things that people I trust tell me are happening and expressing my feelings about them.
I will undoubtedly sometimes pass along things that turn out not to be true, or turn out to be partially true. This may be one of those cases.