AMCD Did So Discuss County Takeover Tantrum -- Record's Reporter Was AWOL

AMCD Did So Discuss County Takeover Tantrum -- Record's Reporter Was AWOL

Shallow coverage by the St. Augustine Record, faced with budget cuts by Morris Communications,reached a new low yesterday as reporter Peter Guinta reported that Mosquito Control Commissioners' Saturday planning meeting did not discuss "the elephant in the roonm, e.g., County Commission Chair Thomas Manuel's scheme to take over the independent, nonpartisan public health agency.

In fact, the takeover plan was discussed, at this and other meetings, but not covered by Guinta. My notes reflect Ginta left at 10:15 AM and returned at 11:15 AM, and that the discussion of the county takeover plans was during his absence.

Perhaps he was covering another story or meeting with a source. But he didn't interview AMCD Chair Jeanne Moeller before filing his story.

If you leave meetings early, you miss a lot.

Morris Communications: we deserve better local coverage, starting with gavel-to-gavel coverage of all local government meetings, including a list of all business items (in agate type if need be). In the words of the late Tennessee publisher H.V. Wells, Jr., "what you don't know can hurt you."