Mr. Taylor:

I have serious concerns re: the article in the August 13th edition of the Bethlehem Press by Jenn Rago. I have attached minutes of the meeting she references in the article, with pertinent comments highlighted. I am certain if you compare the minutes to the article you will discover significant and concerning discrepancies!

The article was not factually accurate and the author appeared to harshly attack and scrutinize me as a public official. I reference the 2nd paragraph, which states “unusually harsh and unexpected scrutiny from lame duck council women Grace Crampsie Smith.”

As the minutes denote, I stated I appreciated the applicant’s willingness to serve but felt a conflict of interest existed. We could have gone straight to a vote however, I was the one harshly attacked by Council Women Kwiatek and Wilhelm. Additionally, nowhere does the article indicate that 2 residents spoke of the conflict of interest with the candidate during public comment.

Paragraph 4 falsely asserts I felt the candidate had too much expertise and a self-serving agenda? This was never mentioned AT ALL during the meeting (and thus is not in the minutes), and why would someone have an issue with too much expertise? I also noted in the minutes that I trusted the applicant to recuse himself however, the issue is he likely would have to recuse himself often given conflict of interest!

The author then states I lashed out at 2 council women? Inaccurate again. In fact, I was the one to call the council president for a “point of order” when councilwoman Kwiatek was interrupting and making negative facial expressions towards other council members.

The core principles of journalism, often articulated by organizations like the Society of Professional Journalists, include truth and accuracy, independence, fairness and impartiality, humanity, and accountability. These principles guide journalists in their pursuit of providing citizens with accurate and reliable information.

I hope you will agree that this article certainly does not meet the core principles of journalism.

I have been a reader and subscriber of the Press newspapers for many years, starting out as a child reading the Times News, to today looking forward to my weekly Bethlehem Press publication. Words cannot express my concern when I read this article. As a public official I certainly understand that I will be attacked and negatively viewed at times. However, it is vital to our public that information is presented via print media in a true and accurate fashion, as well as with fairness and impartiality! This certainly was not the case at all in this article!

It is for this reason I respectfully ask for a retraction of the article, including the facts as denoted in the attached meeting minutes.

I appreciate your attention to this matter, and anxiously await your response.

Be well!

Grace Crampsie Smith, M.Ed.

Bethlehem City Council Member