The mayor and his communications team no longer respond to any of our requests for information.
No one working for the city is allowed to speak with the Leader Herald.
The Leader Herald fails to print whatever the mayor wants, and what’s more, publishes investigative reports into the mayor’s excesses and potential illegal, unethical and irresponsible behavior.
The mayor fights back making every effort to undermine the newspaper.
In fact, the mayor told the publisher of the Leader Herald a year and half ago, “I will put you out of business in four weeks.”
Obviously, this has not happened.
Some of his faithful employees throw away our newspapers or attempt to disrupt our business from week to week or threaten certain businessmen and women from doing business with us…or else.
We remain fearless about his attacks on us.
The Leader Herald remains the newspaper of record in this city, as it has been since 1885.
Despite making many efforts to put us out of business by speaking publicly against us at public meetings and before city organizations in front of large crowds, and by urging those in attendance not to advertise with us, he has shown the kind of poisonous animus to the truth that is now being revealed by the Secretary of State’s office.
The Leader Herald is fully capable of taking the mayor to task for his disingenuous behavior, for his cavalier attitude, for his absence from city hall, for his repeated acts of sexual harassment against women, for his abuse of the municipal laws by which this city is supposed to be run and for making a personal business out of being mayor for himself.
His favorite quote: “What’s in it for me?” says it all about his ten year rule.
No matter what he attempts, he cannot stifle our voice or put us out of business.
But what about others affected by his indifference to the law who are treated this way? What does this say about how others must feel who are on the wrong side of the mayor?
Fighting the Secretary of State’s office to protect his private e-mails discussing city business shows how poor the mayor’s judgment can be. We look forward to reviewing the mayor’s private e-mails, which he is now being forced to provide.
And we will publish them in their entirety for the residents, taxpayers and voters of this city to read.