Readers looking for someone to trust in media
Queensbury Town Board has still not acted on ethics complaint
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It was the day after Christmas in 2018 and I was told there was a woman who wanted to see me.
More often than not when you are the editor of a newspaper that it is not a good thing.
I was busy and I didn't want to talk to her, but as was usually the case over the 21 years I was editor, I got up to face the music.
That's relationship you have with readers.
You are out there in the community, at your kids' sporting events, shopping in the supermarket and if they have a beef, a question, well, sometimes they just walk through the front door.
Like this day in 2018.
"You've been at the newspaper a long time," the woman began.
"Thirty years," I answered.
She hesitated, her eyes darting left and right as if concerned someone might hear her in the lobby. She paused again, seemingly struggling to find the words.
"Your articles give me ... hope," she said.
Even now, seven years later, I can't think of anything a reader ever said to me that was more profound, more uplifting.
Yet at the time, what I felt was relief. She wasn't going to yell at me.
I was left speechless.
As she turned to walk away, I thanked her for making my day, then as an afterthought I thanked her for making my year. It buoyed me for facing the year ahead, what turned out to be my last full year at the newspaper.
I wrote this about that moment in my book The Last American Newspaper:
"It was a reminder why so many of us are in the news business; why we remain committed in the face of adversity, and of course it reminded me of the power of the printed word. We may not be changing the world every day, but giving our readers a little hope is a good place to start."
Looking back, that may be a big reason why I started this newsletter.
I still wanted to deliver a little hope.
Over these past four years, I've struggled to define what I'm doing and what this is.
I refer to it as my column. Others define it as a blog. Eventually, I settled on the Substack title of newsletter, although I still don't think that is right either.
The goal is to fill the void regarding local news.
But on Monday, I discovered there is a definition for what Will Doolittle and I have become.
During an interview on CNN, National Public Radio CEO Katherine Maher said what people are looking for in the media is not a relationship with an organization, but an individual.
"We have a historic belief in media that the brand name of our organization is enough to convey trust, confidence, integrity, but people right now are looking for relationships with the reporter," she told CNN's Max Foster. "They want to understand why someone is saying what they're saying. That is as meaningful now as the brand of the organization itself."
Those "media influencers" weren't necessarily doing the reporting themselves, but translating it for consumption.
Bingo, I thought, that's us.
We are "media influencers."
What we have with our readers that few media outlets have is 40 years in the community. For those who read us at the newspaper, there is a familiarity, a comfort zone, hopefully some trust, a feeling they can relate to them and this community.
"We're seeing a real rise in people's trust in media influencers, news influencers," Maher said. "I think what it teaches us is that people want a relationship, not with an institution, but with an individual."
We’re trying to do our part.
Queensbury ethics
I made a third appearance before the Town Board in Queensbury Monday night about its failure to address my ethics complaint.
After filing an ethics complaint in November that councilman Tim McNulty had an "appearance" of a conflict of interest because he was chariman of the Warren County Republican Committee while also serving on the Town Board, the town's Ethics Board ruled that McNulty was in violation of the town's ethics policy.
Seven moths later, the Town Board has done nothing to address the situaiton.
Here is what I said to the Town Board Monday Night:
This is my third time addressing the town board on the same topic.
On Nov. 20, 2024 - almost 7 months ago - I filed an ethics complaint with the Queensbury Ethics Board. In that complaint I pointed out that Mr. McNulty had an "appearance" of a conflict of interest by serving as chairman of the Warren County Republican Party and councilman on the Town Board.
In its opinion of Feb. 11, 2025, the non-partisan Queensbury Ethics Board ruled, "it is obvious that holding these positions simultaneously provides the opportunities to make decisions that benefit that person and his group/family/tribe rather than the citizens of Queensbury. We conclude that this creates the appearance of a conflict of interest."
If anyone would like to see that decision, I have copies with me.
That puts Mr. McNulty in violation of the town's ethics policy.
That ruling was made four months ago and neither Mr. McNulty nor the Town Board has done anything to rectify the situation. He is still in violation of the town ethics policy.
I understand that there is a workshop scheduled for next week where the ethics policy is on the agenda. I hope the Town Board will finally put this issue behind it and seriously address the matter.
I hope the Town Board took notice of the protests around the country this past weekend. It is clear that many of its citizens - and many right here in Queensbury - don't have a high opinion of those holding elected office.
Not adhering to a code of ethics is one reason why.
The Town Board has scheduled a workshop session for Monday, June 23 at 3 p.m. with the ethics policy on the agenda. The meeting is open to the public in the conference room next to the supervisor's office.
Another sellout
Tickets are dwindling for The Last American Newspaper's dramatic reading as part of the Adirondack Theater Festival at the Wood Theater.
Three of the four shows are now sold out.
There are only tickets left for the Saturday matinee.
Arts can survive
The Adirondack Explorer reported last week that the Pendragon Theatre in Saranac Lake was back on track to completing its new building project.
It had been promised $850,000 from the federal budget for the building project only to see that money disappear with the Trump administration. (Remember the North Country voted heavily for Trump).
But there was a groundswell of support from local and national businesses and foundations to help complete the new facility.
The Adirondack Foundation's Generous Acts Fund awarded Pendragon $20,000 toward its building fund. It also received support from the Cloudsplitter Foundation, Adirondack Health, NBT Bank, Long Run Wealth, Mike Foote Insurance and the prestigious Shubert Foundation.
The new funding is a shot in the arm, but the theater is still not there yet. But it will have a full lineup of shows this summer. With these types of cuts to the arts in rural communities, you will be hearing stories like this repeatedly in the future.
Belmont back
Some 46,000 turned out for the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga on June 6. That's a pretty good turnout when the Triple Crown is not in the line.
The New York Racing Association announced that the renovated Belmont Park would open in the fall of 2026 which means the Belmont Stakes will be back for one more year at Saratoga.
Immigration reversal
I reported in The Front Page yesterday that President Trump had ordered ICE to no longer target workers in businesses like meatpacking, hotels, restaurants and farms.
The Washington Post reported the next day that the Department of Homeland Security had reversed that policy because "the White House did not support" the new policy.
ICE agents were told to continue immigration raids at the businesses Trump said he was going to protect.
The Post wondered who was deciding White House policy on immigration - Trump or Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller.
Mayoral candidate
In the latest arrest of a political figure - they've all been Democrats - New York City Comptroller and New York City mayoral candidate, Brad Lander, was arrested at immigration court Tuesday after linking arms with a person authorities were trying to detain.
Reporters witnessed Lander's arrest first hand. The Associated Press reported that the confrontation between Lander and agents began as the man was coming out of immigration court. Lander locked arms with the immigrant and demanded to see a judicial warrant.
“I will let go when you show me the judicial warrant. Where is it?” Lander is heard saying on a video.
The AP reported that agents tried to physically separate the two, "pulling both men down the hall in a chaotic scrum as photographers snapped photos."
Once separated, they grabbed Lander and put his arms behind his back with one agent saying, “You’re obstructing.”
“I’m not obstructing. I’m standing right here in the hallway,” Lander said as he was being handcuffed.
“You don’t have the authority to arrest U.S. citizens,” Lander is heard saying before he’s taken into an elevator by agents.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said that Lander impeded a federal officer and assaulted at least one of them. None of the videos showed the assault.
Lander was released after a few hours with the U.S. attorney’s office saying it would decide later whether he would be charged with a crime. The immigrant Lander was trying to protect was arrested.
“I believe it is important to show up and bear witness and accompany people,” Lander said after being released.
Dan Clark of Capital Confidential reported that Gov. Kathy Hochul was asked about the arrest after a press event Tuesday afternoon.
“You want to know what I really think? It’s bullshit,” Hochul said, adding that Lander had been visiting the courthouse “for weeks to escort people” who were afraid of being detained while they were there.
“And this is what happens to him? What the hell is happening to this country?” Hochul added.
Ken Tingley spent more than four decades working in small community newspapers in upstate New York. Since retirement in 2020 he has written three books and is currently adapting his second book "The Last American Newspaper" into a play. He currently lives in Queensbury, N.Y.
“What the hell is happening to this country?”
Indeed.
Brad Lander was acting lawfully in demanding to see a judicial warrant. Without a warrant detainment is akin to kidnapping. Lander himself was kidnapped.
The insidious policy behind this is two-fold. Formerly, before Trump, ICE was not allowed to detain subjects in courthouses, at schools, or houses of worship - for good reasons. Trump changed that.
Then Trump instituted a policy that is a trap. Immigrants are told to attend a hearing where charges against them will be dismissed. They must show up to court. When they do, after charges are dismissed, ICE arrests them.
It is the devious work of evil.