To the Editor,
The Gazette editor needs to stop the bullying smear campaign against council members, staff and others. The hatred is absurd as well as demoralizing to the community. While Mr. Farrell is entitled to express his partisan political viewpoints, professional journalists would never abide this breach of ethics. Gazette readers cannot trust his objectivity. I invite Farrell to visit the Society of Professional Journalists Website at spj.org and read its code of ethics. Potshots, name calling, outright lies and gossip are bad journalism and against common decency. It's just not good for Fillmore. Here are a few lines of ethics code for journalists.
Journalists should be honest, fair and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting information.
Test the accuracy of information from all sources and exercise care to avoid inadvertent error.
Deliberate distortion is never permissible.
Diligently seek out subjects of news stories to give them the opportunity to respond to allegations of wrongdoing
Ethical journalists treat sources, subjects and colleagues as human beings deserving of respect.
Journalists should be free of obligation to any interest other than the public's right to know.
Admit mistakes and correct them promptly.
Gayle Washburn
[See a responce to Gayle Washburn's letter here: http://www.fillmoregazette.com/editorial/realities-151 ]

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To the Editor:
I’d like to publicly thank Mark Austin, Tom Fennell, Vance Johnson and Douglas Tucker for their service to the city and citizens of Fillmore. Collectively we served on the Planning Commission for 24 years. It was a pleasure to serve on a commission that functioned professionally, was chaired with purpose, and where business was conducted openly and fairly for all parties.
My intent is not to dwell in the past, but to look forward, with hope that other citizens will have the positive and rewarding experiences I was fortunate enough to participate in. Institutional knowledge is valuable and the loss of that knowledge base will be missed. Council Member Brian Sipes said that some cities do not have separate Planning Commissions and that the City Council fills that role. From my recent observations and for the good of the City of Fillmore, I sincerely hope we do not go down that path.
Sincerely,
Diane McCall