Commentary

Another side to town’s meeting

Commentary

I'm writing to take issue with the article in the paper today titled, "Wind turbines continue to cause tension at Arkwright Town Board meeting" (Jan. 17). I'm afraid objective reporting went out the window and was replaced by hyperbole and sensationalism. I was in attendance at the meeting and while there certainly was tension during the public forum, there are some serious inaccuracies in the reporting of the events and the timeline of those events.

I quote: "(Joni) Riggle then proceeded to flick the lights on and off in the Arkwright Town Hall, disrupting the meeting, and frightening a small child in attendance."

I was sitting about 6 feet away from the only child in attendance at the meeting, and he was engrossed in an iPad for the entire meeting, before, during, and after Ms. Riggle's outburst. He was most certainly not a "small child," probably 10-12 years old, and he did not appear to be frightened in the least.

I quote: "Riggle eventually conceded and stormed out of the meeting, taking several citizens in attendance with her."

This is not true. Ms. Riggle was the only person to immediately exit the meeting after her demonstration to the board during the public comment portion. The balance of the residents remained in the meeting until a significant time later, after which at least three other residents had spoken.

I quote: "Amanda Dando, who at a previous meeting suggested Arkwright Town Hall create a web site, came back with more suggestions she read while shaking in the aftermath of what'd happened."

This is factually incorrect, and the most egregious and intentional misrepresentation in this article. Ms. Dando was the first speaker during the public comments portion of the meeting, and gave a somewhat nervous pitch to the board about pursuing development of a town web site. Ms. Riggle had not spoken yet or demonstrated at that point in the meeting. Other than what appeared to be some public speaking anxiety, Ms. Dando handled herself very well. This is a gross misrepresentation of the events, a sensationalist lie, and leads one to question the factuality of any piece this author submits for print.

I quote: "The meeting further escalated as another citizen stormed out, following Norton's suggestion for heavy curtains to curtail the wind turbine's noise."

I'm not exactly sure stormed out is the proper term for someone turning and leaving the room. People did leave at various points, as I did myself after the public comment portion but that was due to time constraints and not due to the content of the meeting. While interpretation is subjective, none of the people that left appeared to do anything other than exit the room in an orderly fashion.

Moving beyond what was clearly an attempt by the author to dramatize an extraordinary version of events that simply wasn't true, regarding the content of the meeting, I'd like to address this quote from Supervisor Frederic "Nick" Norton: " '(The tested locations) were all under 50 megawatts and the recommendation is when the wind increases in velocity that we do further testing.' The room instantly filled with murmurs and whispers." Yes, there were murmurs and whispers because everyone there knows the noise measurements are made in decibels. Megawatts is a measure of power output. It was a laughable statement, when the de facto leader of the project cannot even give a report about noise testing and provide the correct unit of measurement.

And finally, one comment by a councilman that was not reported -- and should have been -- was made to an older gentleman from Brainard Road who was speaking during his time in the public comment portion, again outlining the problems his family is experiencing due to the vibration of the nearby wind turbines. The particular councilman responded, "It sounds like you need an exorcist over there." Was this one of the ".. many attempts at humor by the board to lighten up the increasingly hostile setting."?

The comment understandably fell flat.

I understand dramatic writing and that the OBSERVER is in the business to sell papers. But it shouldn't be at the expense of the truth.

Rob Leary is a Fredonia resident.