Feel the love

Here's an exchange between Elizabeth Prata and Pam Wilkinson that took place near the end of Pam's term as council chair in 2005. The subject was Prata's "exclusive" letters-to-the-editor policy. Earlier, Pam had submitted a letter to both the Gray News and The Monument explaining the budget proposal scheduled for consideration at an upcoming town meeting. Pam felt the information needed to reach as many people as possible before that event. But because the letter wasn't exclusive, Prata refused to publish it.

What's notable, of course, isn't Prata's exclusivity policy but the snarling tone of her reply to Pam -- a tone that characterizes almost all of Prata's personal communications with anyone on her long list of perceived enemies. Not only does such venom clearly demonstrate Prata's lack of objectivity, it reveals a profoundly angry, judgmental personality that shouldn't be allowed anywhere near the opinion business.

This is the very end of an exchange that also included a note from Mitch Berkowitz asking Prata to suspend her exclusivity policy this one time as a matter of public interest:

From: editor@monumentnews.com
Sent: Tuesday, May 31, 2005 5:39 PM
To: Pam Wilkinson
Subject: RE: Letter to Editor

If you feel that it is an injustice for me to adhere to business policy just so that you can continue your laxity in looking up policy, "figure out timing" or write an opinion a week earlier, then I think it is good that you leave the service of the people of the town of Gray.

If you are not willing to go to that small a length to see that your budget passes or to confer your opinion to the people of Gray for your constituents then I am disappointed in you as Chair. And as you said in your letter, you want people to study a complicated budget, come to endless workshops, and make an informed decision at a hot meeting on a sunny Saturday...and yet the upshot is, as you mentioned below, you are too lazy to look up a policy or create time to write a second letter...Again...sad.

Elizabeth

[Previous note from Pam]
Elizabeth,
I do not expect any rules to be broken and never asked them to be broken. I asked Mitch to provide details to the public; which was done. My comments, you are correct, are comments. I do not have time to write two articles and try to figure the grid of timing that you require to appease a policy and standard which you have implemented that I feel is an injustice to the public you devotionally serve. That again is my comment.

Warm regards,
Pam Wilkinson