One of my favorite responsibilities as a news executive was to serve as an ombudsman. When readers express complaints about a news organization’s coverage of an issue, it is the ombudsman’s role to publicly and constructively respond to these complaints, and explain how news and commentary are prepared.

The Port Townsend Free Press commentary of July 31, entitled ‘Now Showing – Desperation Over Pleasant Harbor,’ generated a good deal of response on Facebook and elsewhere. While much of the response to that commentary was positive, the criticism merits discussion.

Jeff Maloney, writing on the Brinnon Community Page on Facebook, expressed a concern echoed by other readers. “It strikes me as confrontational, an attack on this Brinnon group, a lot of it irrelevant, petty, like how much money the group has, an error in the address, it was about the group, not about the issue (sic).”

The column raised questions about the Brinnon Group and its finances, a practice well ensconced in journalism. When a party inserts itself into a debate, it is in the public interest to scrutinize that party. One role of journalism is to explore and explain the motivations of parties engaging on an issue. The public knows what the Brinnon Group says but does not know how its efforts are funded nor who is providing this funding. These are valid questions.

As for the location of the Brinnon Group, the group says it is working for the people of Brinnon yet there is evidence that it isn’t located in Brinnon or even Jefferson County. If the people who say they are working on behalf of local interests are located nearly 100 miles away, as the Brinnon Group’s Kitsap Superior Court filing and IRS correspondence reveal, it is reasonable to ask whether it is really a local grassroots organization.

Sara Harvey, also writing on the Brinnon Community Facebook page, lamented, “metaphoric slanders against a group of people who are trying to prevent a massive shift to the rural village that is Brinnon.”

Slander is a legal term that applies to spoken falsehoods that damage another party. Falsely accusing a party of wrongdoing or some other malfeasance may rise to the level of slander but presenting facts, posing questions and expressing opinions do not. People are not entitled to their own facts. Factual inaccuracy was not among the complaints about the column.

The Brinnon Group is trying to prevent the Pleasant Harbor Master Planned Resort. But there is nothing to suggest the group speaks for all or even most of the people in Brinnon. The recent primary election results in the race for District 3 county commissioner indicate otherwise.

Of the 551 votes cast for all four county commissioner candidates in the Brinnon Precinct, 32% were cast for a candidate who opposes the Pleasant Harbor MPR. The remaining 68% were for candidates who publicly expressed support for the project. While the Brinnon Group may speak for a third of the people of Brinnon, their position appears to represent a small minority, further legitimizing questions about it. When a party takes action on an issue that contradicts the wishes of two-thirds of the people of Brinnon, it is reasonable to ask why.

The greatest number of complaints involved the tone of the commentary. Brinnon Group spokesperson Mark Rose described the column as, “a hit piece,” “nasty,” expressive of “anger,” and he articulated dismay that the commentary did not delve into, “the merits of our appeal,” to block the MPR. Other readers voiced similar complaints.

The column expressed no opinion on the merits of the appeal because that is the role of the courts. The column expressed no opinion on the Pleasant Harbor MPR, but did disclose the group’s prior statements on the issue, which is appropriate.

As for the tone of the commentary, that is a license granted to all opinion writers. The term “conga line of buffoons,” is an admittedly less than cordial means of describing the Brinnon Group and purely subjective. Mr. Rose admitted during an on-the-record interview that he falsely accused two public officials of suppressing information and said earlier that his group was unable to inform a “shocking,” number of Brinnon residents about the Pleasant Harbor MPR. Whether these actions and inactions rise to the level of buffoonery is open to debate. Reasonable people can conclude they are inconsistent with organizations wishing to do good.

The feedback was instructive and the opportunity to respond to critics is appreciated. It is our responsibility and we are wiser for that opportunity.

Scott Hogenson is a resident of Jefferson County.