On Friday, March 24, in an item about Council President Blanco's being "the first member of the governing body to earn a certificate of completion from a Rutgers University program for elected officials," I incorrectly identified Councilor Storch as having completed the series, though without receiving a certificate.
I committed the cardinal sin in journalism of taking the word of someone other than the direct source.
My apologies to both Council President Blanco and Councilor Storch.
Let the last words be those of Council President Blanco:
"When you listed the items you have posted on the blog about me, you forgot your posting of March 24 inferring that I have falsely claimed that I was the first member of the Plainfield City Council to receive the Municipal Elected Officials Certificate from Rutgers University’s Center for Local Government...
"I am very proud of my Certificate, and before I issued the press release, I contacted Kathi Cupano, the Program Development Administrator of the Center for Government Services at Rutgers University, to make certain that my statement was accurate. Ms. Cupano researched the Center’s records and determined that I was the first Plainfield Council member to complete the entire Certificate program. This week, I asked Ms. Cupano to review her records once again. Her response was the same.
"Since the Courier News publicized my Certificate and completion of the program, the majority of Council members have either started the Certificate program or taken additional courses. Several members will shortly complete the program. I applaud them for taking additional time from their busy schedules to improve their knowledge base. Isn’t that the real story here?"
No comments:
Post a Comment