I really didn&#;t want to write this column.
In fact, I put off writing it for three days.
I wanted to write about other things, more important things.
But the more I read and re-read Don Sherman&#;s letter to the editor (see left), the more I felt I had to respond to the inaccuracies and petty remarks penned by this member of both the Oxford Downtown Development Authority and Chamber of Commerce boards.
Sherman&#;s letter is a response to a column I wrote back in the Jan. 20 issue. It was entitled &#;Give Williams a chance? and you can read it for yourself at www.oxfordleader.com.
I apologize in advance if you find this column to be boring or irrelevant, but much like taking out the garbage, some things in life just have to be done. Here goes:
Response #1 ? In Sherman&#;s opening paragraph, he claims I attempt to paint the Chamber of Commerce and DDA as &#;in it for themselves? ? his quote marks, not mine.
Nowhere in that column did this quoted phrase appear. I did write, &#;Sometimes it seems like the only reason the Chamber and DDA exist is to pad resumes and keep a handful of people employed.?
I am well aware that both boards are staffed by volunteers. I believe some of them are there to truly help the business community and some are there simply to make themselves look good and add organizations to their LinkedIn.com webpage.
And yes, these two groups employ three people, who altogether earn about $100,000 plus benefits, so it&#;s not all volunteer-based.
Sherman then states that I wrote that Chamber and DDA members &#;do volunteer work to help &#;make money and live a certain lifestyle.??
Again, that&#;s not what I wrote.
The &#;make money and live a certain lifestyle? quote was part of something Guy Williams, of Community Marketing Associates, said during his original presentation to DDA members.
Allow me to put it in context by quoting the following from my Jan. 20 column:
. . . I also liked the fact that, unlike many government officials, Williams understands the real motivation behind the concept of entrepreneurship.
&#;I don&#;t know anybody who went into business, so they can help the community,? Williams said. &#;You own a business because you want to make money and live a certain lifestyle.?
Don&#;t get me wrong, it&#;s great that so many of our local businesses are always willing to donate to a variety of causes.
But all of us must remember, businesses are not nonprofit groups operating out of the goodness of their hearts nor are they cash cows to be milked whenever government says it needs more.
The Number One goal of any business is to make a profit because without that, there is no business. It would be nice to have someone who understands that working to promote our businesses . . .
I have always been and always will be a staunch defender and promoter of local businesses? interests.
Response #2 ? In his letter, Sherman attempts to malign me for not attending the Main Street pep rally in Pontiac last week.
First of all, The Oxford Leader was the very first media outlet to report that Oxford once again received national accreditation for its Main Street program. I wrote a prominent Page 3 story on it for the Jan. 27 issue.
Through e-mails (which I have copies), I informed Sherman that I would attempt to make it down to Pontiac, but I am very busy working on both the weekly issue and the upcoming Progress edition. I also told him my reporter was on vacation.
When he wrote to me that the event was a three-hour time commitment, I wrote him, &#;There&#;s no way I can spend that much of my day on a single story, especially one that&#;s already been covered and written about. We&#;ll do some kind of follow-up on the event, but we won&#;t be able to make it there.?
Sherman&#;s response to me in a Feb. 15 ? &#;Thank you for the update on Drew and your story regarding the accreditation. We appreciate the coverage of the important story . . . If the time commitment is more than you can afford with your workload, I completely understand.?
I was true to my word and wrote a front-page story on the event for this week&#;s issue and put it in our What&#;s the Biz section.
Sherman, however, demonstrated exactly what kind of a man he is by publicly criticizing me for being absent at the pep rally, while privately telling me &#;I completely understand? why.
Prior to this, I witnessed Sherman&#;s true character a few weeks back when he walked up to me at my desk, shook my hand and told me he&#;s looking forward to building a good working relationship with me. This took place just after he&#;d been bad-mouthing me behind my back in a meeting.
To paraphrase rapper Eminem, &#;Will the real Don Sherman please stand up??
As for Sherman&#;s talk of me being too busy to cover a positive community event because I&#;m writing &#;bought and paid for business profiles,? allow me to explain.
Penning stories for our Progress edition is a part of my job that happens once a year. The deal is businesses that buy an ad in the March section get a free story written about them. So basically, on top of regular weekly workload, I have to do interviews, write stories and take photos for an additional 20-25 articles. The Leader, like many other newspapers, has been doing Progress editions for over 40 years.
Response #3 ? With regard to the Guy Williams presentation, I urge people to read my Page 3 story on his marketing plan in our Jan. 20 edition.
I was directed by Assistant Publisher Don Rush to cover this meeting and do a write-up for the paper.
Admittedly, I was not at all thrilled about the prospect of attending an 8 a.m. meeting to listen to some PR/marketing guy drone on about his plan. As a rule, I generally detest PR/marketing folks and rank them somewhere between politicians, lawyers and insurance salesmen.
But after listening to his presentation, much to my surprise, I actually liked what he had to say and thought his plan was a good one. I decided to go one step further than just doing an article and write a column.
My column is a strict expression of my opinion. No one tells what to write or what positions to take. I&#;m not going to change who I am, what I believe in or how I express myself to suit anyone&#;s tastes. I&#;m passionate about what&#;s right and what&#;s wrong ? and if I think you&#;re wrong, I&#;m going to call you on it. If I don&#;t believe it, I don&#;t write it. This column is me.
If you don&#;t like me, don&#;t read me. When you start adjusting yourself to appease your critics, you&#;re no longer a man, you&#;re a passionless hack.
And FYI ? I do not believe government and the &#;community? are one in the same, i.e. if you criticize the government, you&#;re hurting the community. To me, community is more than just government, it&#;s churches, service clubs, charities, schools, businesses and neighbors ? all the things you find in this newspaper every week.
Sometimes the best thing you can do for the community is point out the corruption, incompetence, lies, ineffectiveness, arrogance and wastefulness that often is government.
I opined about Williams because he has good ideas. And I didn&#;t say we absolutely must contract with him. I merely stated that I believe business owners should take the time to listen to him.
My exact words were ? &#;I would ask business owners within the DDA district to attend Williams? Jan 27 meeting, listen to what he has to say and keep an open mind. Business owners should attend this meeting, not because ? cue the violins ? it&#;s good for the community, but because it could be good for them. There&#;s nothing wrong with a little self-interest.?
Sherman&#;s insinuation that the reason I endorsed Williams is because our newspaper stands to profit is patently false. Yes, it&#;s true that Williams has bought a few ads with us and, if hired, would use our newspaper in his advertising plans because we&#;re a local publication.
He made that very clear in his meeting, when he said, &#;Every time we spent money advertising (in the past), I&#;d start with the local paper.?
You can&#;t have a local advertising plan to promote local businesses and community events without using the local paper. It&#;s common sense. Even the DDA knows that because it has repeatedly advertised with us.
At no point did Williams say the entire $120,000 advertising budget he proposed would all be spent with the Leader. In fact, he indicated that his advertising approach involved using newspapers, radio, television and internet.
Fact is, the vast majority of that proposed $120,000 advertising budget would most likely be spent on media outlets outside this community, whose advertising rates are much, much more expensive than the Leader&#;s.
I have absolutely nothing to do with the advertising side of this business. I don&#;t sell ads. I don&#;t design them. I don&#;t earn any commissions.
My job is editorial content, plain and simple.
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