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My lovely wife Sera should love this. It seems I have a man crush on the mayor or so says an anonymous writer to NSBNEWS.net. Here is what he or she wrote, which was posted on the photo and caption for the NSB Christmas tree light snafu:
Huh? This is news? Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 2009-12-06 19:00.
This is news? Is it a "debacle" (defined by the Free Online Dictionary as "A sudden, disastrous collapse, downfall, or defeat") that some of the lights temporarily didn't function on a city Christmas tree? Oh, but later on the writer quickly assures citizens that Mayor Adam Barringer is happy all the lights are shining now.
Seriously? This is real journalism?
What is going on at NSBnews.net with the number of insignificant stories like the puff piece headlined "Tonight, it will be Daniel in the Lion's Den for new Mayor Adam Barringer" with a big, smiling photo of Mr. Barringer?
It's as though the other new commissioner, Judy Reiker, hardly exists, not to mention the rest of the City Commissioners, who barely rate a mention in this glowing article about Mayor Barringer, who is, after all, just one (1) vote on the Commission.
Witness Mr. Frederick's statements in this same story, where he writes, "For Adam Barringer, it has the makings of being like Daniel in the Lion's Den. But to those familiar with the Biblical story, Daniel's faith helped him persevere and Barringer should do just fine...Barringer's election brings renewed hope for the city's opposition as he is the new face of New Smyrna Beach government and our city's new leader..."
I realize NSBnews.net endosed Mr. Barringer in the mayoral election, but these articles suggest the writer has some sort of starry-eyed crush on NSB's new mayor. Perhaps it's time for the writer to re-examine the basic tenets of good, objective journalism and adopt them as a guideline. I'm pretty sure they don't include fawning over elected officials.
To each his own... I will say this: Mayor Adam Barringer is accessible. Daily. He made that pledge during the campaign and he's kept it so far.
My coverage of the mayor is no different to the metro media outlets that cover the president. Because NSBNEWS.net's focus is on New Smyrna Beach, the mayor gets the spotlight. Let's face it. Who else around here covers real news?
NSBNEWS.net stands alone in that regard. When the city pays nearly $9,000 for a 20-foot artificial tree and the lights go out during the rain, that's news. Especially so with several thousand parade goers here the very next day, driving by it in the dark on their way home.
So, of course the mayor would be pleased the lights were back on. Let's not forget all the acrimony that came with the Community Redevelopment Agency purchase of the tree as well as another $15,000 for the extensive street lighting on Canal.
You really think the mayor would be thrilled to have people driving by with a third of the tree's lights out like they were the night before?
As for Daniel in the Lion's Den reference, which was the subject of my blog and not a story as the anonymous writer indicated, anyone who has been a regular attendee to City Commission meetings will attest that they can get nasty. One guy last year threatened to recall the entire commission if they didn't lower the budget and brough a couple hundred of his neighbors with him.
Barringer won the primary by a mere 15 votes and the general election over first-term incumbent Sally Mackay by 112 votes or 50.93 percent of the vote. And his critics were waiting to see how he'd do in his very first meeting with an actual commission vote on whether to approve the Hampton Inn & Suites for Flagler Avenue. The meeting was packed and the partisan crowd was real.
Barringer voted for the hotel as did new Commissioner Judy Reiker and Commissioners Jack Grasty and Lynne Plaskett with Commissioner Jim Hathaway the lone no vote.
As it turned out, the whole process has to be done all over again because adjoining neighbors weren't properly noticed by the planning department.
Barringer didn't shy away from that issue as well as many other "breaking news" events that only NSBNEWS.net has reported, such as the ticketing of CRA Director Kevin Fall, his reprimand and resignation announcement.
Barringer was endorsed by NSBNEWS.net because he ran on a pledge of holding down spending and coming up with an economic development plan within his first hundred days in office.
People come to NSBNEWS.net because we report the news. We don't have any conflicts of interest, financially or otherwise.
Get used to the coverage because that is what NSBNEWS.net is all about. Let's be honest: Where else can you get the real news?