Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Back on the Block
Traveling and out of town for the past three weeks makes for bad blogging, but I am back. Lots of happenings on the local scene including but not limited to: Dusenberry ethics lapse, DFA on the WSJ, Platte County considers Fire Protection consolidation, Consulting opportunities for the City of WL, Medill refuses to disclose editorial board of Weatherby Lake Living, Fishing Club Freezer, City continues spending spree @ Community Center, Bubba makes a comeback...and more.
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14 comments:
Welcome Back ! We have been wondering where you have been !
Who is the editorial staff for the WL Monthly?
What consulting opportunities?
It is interesting to know that Pat Medill will not disclose the "board" governing the Weatherby Lake Living newsletter. It only drives home this a privately runned newsletter with articles and content based on the this mysterious board's personal choices. Per a recent "article" in the last newsletter - I don't buy this "declaration " that space and timing limit the content. I have read in the past more than one article on the Stevensons and Whites. (Nothing personal against this family.) Their latest activities have no trouble making it to the newsletter. It would appear some people have preferential treatment. There are hundreds of families living at Weatherby Lake. Surely these families are involved in activities and functions we would also be interested in knowing about.
WLIC is off buying property to protect the lake, U Cove revamp is stunning, etc.
City of WL has had to cut city hall hours, our roads are in dire need of resurfacing, and our police department is driving old cars. Am I missing something or is there an imbalance at Weatherby Lake?
I do not work for, write, nor am I anyway involved in the paper. I believe the content comes from residents sending information to the editor. So I don't think any family gets preferential treatment I believe they just had something submitted. Possibly no other families have submitted any exciting information for Pat to print in the paper. I do believe there is a space and timing issue, articles have to be submitted before a certain date for the information to be typed and added to the paper. As for space they would only have open the space that has not been purchased. If you would like to have something written about your family or someone you think has something interesting to go in the paper, submit it to Pat Medill, I don't see why she wouldn't print it. Last year I had a blurb put in the paper, the only thing said was she needed the information by a certain deadline date.
To Anonymous 7:40 am posting: You obviously have never had anything rejected or severely edited. The fact this matter was given a half page dissertation in the last newsletter lends itself to the fact this is an issue with some people. Further, for what reason is there a covert editorial board.
Interesting Ms. Medill writes every month that we are to love and hug each other. Yet, she is very active in all the elections. I know she made phone calls to many residents and told them lies about the people she didn't support. We can thank Ms. Medill for our current Board of Aldermen and Mayor.
So, how do we go about demanding the WL Monthly Board is disclosed?
My bet is that we could ask one of the kind residents (group) who was spreading lies in email prior to the election. But wait.... I guess we don't know their names either!!!
Bloggers,
I have read the comments about the WL Newsletter and also the criticisms aimed at Pat Medill for supposedly giving me and my family “preferential treatment”. I just want to try to clarify a couple of the objections you have mentioned in your comments.
First, I do not believe me or my family receive any preferential treatment at all. I have had only a few articles in the WL Living Newsletter. Some had to be edited to fit the space available, others did not. I believe some of the criticism is coming from the last submission, which I submitted shortly after the W.O.W. car show at Bartle Hall. The car show was in February and we missed the deadline for printing of the February newsletter. So, instead it was targeted for the March newsletter. Pat Medill and/or the editorial board apparently made the decision to “hold” this submission until after the election, believing it was not appropriate to print it before the election since my brother was running for Eastside Alderman. I agreed with their decision 100% and have no problem with that.
You mention that you believe some people are treated unfairly because their articles are edited down in size, are told they didn’t make it in time for print, or deemed to be inappropriate for print at that particular time. I have had the same experience and I understand it. I think Pat Medill and her editorial board made the correct decisions on every action they took with regard to my submissions. Yes, they edited and cut things out. It is their job to do these things where appropriate. That is why they are there. For the record, I do not know who the editorial board is either, but it is not important for me to know. I simply do not care and do not think I would do anything differently in my life if I knew.
One comment referring to me and my family, “Their latest activities have no trouble making it to the newsletter. It would appear some people have preferential treatment”. As for anyone in my family getting preferential treatment for articles written, I follow the same rules and get treated like all others. When I think I have something I believe others in the city may like to know about, I submit it. Pat Medill and the editorial board decide if it merits printing. As for the number of times our family has been in the paper, I think it has been two or three times in the last 3 years. One was to announce that the Weatherby Wheelers, several local residents, rode in the Tour de Cure Wheel to Weston and raised over $8,500 for finding a cure for diabetes and for funding diabetes research. Our team was the #1 team in fundraising—at that time, two years in a row for this event. By the way, expect another one of these articles in June or July this year. We are shooting for another record. I think it is important for residents to know about fundraising efforts completed by local residents for the human good. By the way, if you wish to give to this worthy cause, please contact me—I would appreciate any additional donations we can get. One was an introduction of me and my family after I won the election last year as Eastside Alderman. As a side note, ALL of the aldermen had stories written about them as an introduction, not just me. The third is this article about World of Wheels—a local story about my husband and brothers and their love for cars and the awards they received at this prestigious local car show. Again, it was appropriately held back for over two months because of the election.
Anonymous comment: “There are hundreds of families living at Weatherby Lake. Surely these families are involved in activities and functions we would also be interested in knowing about”.
I agree and it IS happening! I did a quick review of a collection of newsletters I still have and found these examples:
Mike & Shauna Zahner – Green Home of the Year
Tom Urbaniak – Iraq Journey
Harold & Judy Spinner & Rich & Judy Cummings – Hurricane Rita assistance trip
Debbie Leafblad – Science, Robotics, Space
Mark Bender – “A Can-do Man with a Thinking Mind”
Blake Pierce – Blake’s Last Mile Run
Lance & Laura Welch – Their Dog Contessa
Mark Tanner – Brewing his own Beer
There are numerous others and all but one of the above took one full page or more in the newsletter. I found all of the articles interesting and appreciated the opportunity to get to know my fellow neighbors better. If you want an article published, submit it. From what I understand, Pat is always looking for articles for the paper and I think all of us appreciate getting an opportunity to know members of this community better.
Sincerely,
Pat White
Nicely said Pat White.
Pat White, you do not have all the facts. Timing has been used as an excuse to NOT include a submission at any present or future publication. Space had been used as an excuse to edit a submission down to a sentence - and it remained that way.
You have given a very lengthy list of your family's achievements and congradulations to you and your family. This is said with sincerity. We all have read about it in the newsletter.
The fact is you are friends with Pat Medill. There's nothing wrong with that but it is a fact.
You may not care there is an underground editorial staff but then you don't have a reason to care. Unless you are on the mysterious editorial board, what do you know, for fact, on how others have actually been treated?
There are no two ways about it, the situation is wrong.
So instead of expanding on the wonderful things your family is doing (again said with sincerity) , why not look into why there is a problem and correct it.
To Anonymous of 5/31:
It seems to me that Pat White had explained that there is no problem with the newsletter editing. The Weatherby Lake living is a monthly publication for the benefit of the community - if you can't accept that sometimes articles get edited / rejected, stop complaining and fix the problem yourself. Jeeze - there are some residents that just need to look at all of the wonderful things this community has available and stop dwelling on irrelevant, negative issues.
It would be great if we all lived in the perfect community and just dwelled on the good and wonderful things. Do not consider for a minute that anyone has the right to complain; it will only upset the apple cart.
Mr. Moratz, thank you for providing a forum where one can vent their disappointments and exasperations, right or wrong and allow others to respond, right or wrong.
i doubt that the newsletter deadline is just to keep you from putting articles you want into the newsletter. i mean they have to have time to arrange and design everything. get it sent off to get printed, and delivered. Im sure it takes quite a bit of time and work to make it happen
Like pat white said. if someone would get something interesting to the newsletter people to print, im sure they would be happy to do it unless its mean hateful remarks like the ones found here. You seem to think that they prefer one family over the rest of the weatherby families. what do you want them to do? print an article on EVERY family at the lake?
if you want something about your family in the newsletter im sure they would do it unless its mean or hateful. they probably just dont get much stuff to work with. I dont get what your problem with WL living is. they are just trying to help the community
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