I am disappointed to read the one-sided story that was reported in your newspaper about the group of Herndon Town Council Candidates who are suing another Town Council member for claims that are not supported and possibly misleading (“Herndon Town Councilmember Faces Civil Suit,” Oak Hill/Herndon Connection, October 3-9). Anyone can sue someone else for anything they want but that does not make the assertions of that lawsuit true, accurate or legitimate. The defendant and others who have been subpoenaed by the plaintiffs in this case have rightly opted to not comment on the pending litigation.
And yet the three plaintiffs and their lawyer have made disparaging and self-serving public statements to your newspaper, which you have printed, against the person they are suing. Reporting that the defendant and other parties “did not respond to a request for comment” does not get your newspaper off the hook from doing its due diligence in an effort to publish a balanced story. It would have taken less than 5 minutes of effort to independently invalidate those assertions.
Instead, knowingly or not, your newspaper is acting as a mouthpiece for the plaintiffs. The lawsuit will likely be dismissed. But any competent judge would choose not to issue a ruling right before an election in order to prevent his/her decision from having impact on an election. Elections should only be decided on the real issues that face Herndon and its residents. Despite the responsible silence of the judge and the defendant, you have published a one-sided story, and the damage has already been done. Or maybe the plaintiffs already knew that. A more interesting "story" would be why a Town Council that has worked together for the benefit of the Town for so long is suddenly divided to the point of suing each other.
Louis Horvath
Herndon