Small Town, Big Smears, No Rebuttal Allowed

UPDATE: Yesterday, July 5, Publisher Jack Mitchell posted 
both my open letter and the Amador Fire press release online, 
and featured both links on the front page of the Ledger Dispatch. 
Thank you, Jack. 

Given the many questions posed in Mr. Frank Moreno's OpEd  
and by many others privately, I am calling on the Ledger 
Dispatch and its owner the Jackson Rancheria Band of Miwuk 
Indians to hire an independent investigative reporter, someone 
without personal connections to the people involved, to answer 
the "Who, what, where, when how and why" of this very 
important story. Fire safety is the single most important issue 
of our time in this rural county, and we deserve the best public 
service we can have. Certainly there are excellent reporters close 
by who have worked for McClatchy news' The Sacramento Bee 
who would be willing to take this on, or perhaps given the state 
implications, someone from CalMatters.

Let your light shine, Ledger Dispatch. 

I'll say a bit more, please see my comments below.
----------------------------

UPDATE 10:15 AM July 4: Still nothing online as promised, 
except a second hit piece is featured. 
----------------------------


UPDATE JULY 3: Publisher Jack Mitchell tells me that my letter and 
the Press release from Amador Fire are both featured in today's July 3 
print paper. As soon as I can link to the stories I will revise this post.
----------------------
 July 3, 2020

      From my Facebook page:  "Our local newspaper, the Ledger 
Dispatch is mounting a witch hunt and refuses to allow the entire 
story to be told. Such is the danger of living in a community that 
has only one news source. So I have published "Small Town, 
Big Smears, No Rebuttal Allowed" on my blog as it 
is the only means to provide the other side of the story.

Original Story:

I have written a lot over the years about the danger of 

relying on a single news source in one community, but for 

the first time, this has hit home with me.  
.
 

Jack Mitchell, the publisher of the only newspaper in 

Amador County, has engaged in a witch hunt against the 

Fire Chief of our local Fire Department. My readers who 

focus on media accountability will be shocked with his 

obvious bias and inattention to facts in his initial  

piece, to which I responded.  Rather than printing my 

open letter to the Board of Supervisors correcting the 

facts, he has doubled down with more accusations, yet 

he provides zero opportunity for comments or rebuttal. 
.

I am publishing my letter below, as this is the ONLY 

means I have to color in the picture made yellow by 

someone who apparently cares more about an agenda than facts. 

.

Will it reach as many people as his paper does? Doubtful. 

But you know what to do.

________________________________________________ 
.

June 30, 2020 

.

An Open Letter to the Board of Supervisors

Dear Amador County Board of Supervisors,

.

I am writing to you in response to the many misstatements 

and unstated facts in Jack Mitchell's recent article about 

the Amador Fire Protection District in the Ledger Dispatch, 

especially the allegation that AFPD is trying to destroy 

volunteer fire fighting in this county. Here is what I know 

based on my personal dealings with Fire Chief Walt 

White and AFPD about volunteer staffing in Fiddletown.

After seeing three family members lose homes in Paradise, 

and after last summers' long power outages and numerous 

red flag warning days, I joined with others to find ways 

to keep our community in Fiddletown safer from fires.  

We held Town Hall meetings in the Community Center, and 

quickly ascertained that we no longer have any volunteers 

firefighters left in Fiddletown. Suddenly, staffing our 

station became job one for the Fiddletown Fire Safe Council.

.

By chance, I met Chief White at a meeting at Assemblyman 

Frank Bigelow's local office, and brought up this need to 

him.  He told me that if he could find a way to build a 

shower and create sleeping quarters in the fire station, 

he could staff it with volunteers 24-7. I responded that 

I thought the Fiddletown community would be willing to 

raise funds for such a task, and I am happy to tell you 

that the community has stepped up and, with the aid of 

the local Passport Rotary and the Plymouth Foothills 

Rotary Clubs and Rotary International, we have raised more 

than $9,000 toward this goal. As a result of this project, 

I have spoken with Chief White several times. Kayla Dale, 

AFPD's community outreach representative, came to one of 

our meetings and gave a presentation on evacuations during 

emergencies. I have spoken with her many times as well.

.

The one thing that I heard over and over again is that 

AFPD is committed to building a lasting volunteer fire 

fighting staff. And even though we have not yet commenced 

construction on the firehouse project, Chief White has 

come through for Fiddletown already: in partnership with 

Pioneer Fire Protection District, they are staffing two 

volunteer fire fighters inside our long empty fire house 

on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays starting July 3. I 

learned that they have built the largest volunteer 

firefighting staff they have had for years, and also 

learned they are partnering with local non-profits 

for roadside land clearing and emergency animal 

evacuations.  I also am aware of the SAFER grant 

AFPD has written to obtain funding to create a new 

training Academy which would provide free training 

for 100 new volunteers over the next four years and 

a career path for those who want it.

Yet in recent days, primarily on Facebook, community 

members are accusing AFPD of purposely trying to 

destroy the volunteer aspect of firefighting 

throughout the county.  Mr. Mitchell fanned these 

flames by writing, "Coming off the cryptic emails 

and reaching out and investigating the wild claims 

about AFPD, more than a dozen sources came forward 

to corroborate, substantiate and define an ongoing 

battle as, according to all sources, Volunteer 

Firefighters are being quietly and systematically 

wiped out." But Mr. Mitchell did not include all 

the sources, as he dismissed out of hand the press 

release sent to him by AFPD detailing all their 

successful volunteer efforts which would have 

doused this flame. (Full disclosure, after seeing 

such allegations on local FB pages but before the 

publication of the Ledger article, I suggested to 

AFPD they put out such a release so people would 

have the facts about their volunteer efforts. 

Maybe he missed the memo, so here it is 

on AFPD's website and on Facebook.)

.

One last thing. Some on Facebook are saying it 

was the recently dismissed volunteer Antonio 

Moreno who was bringing volunteer staffing to 

Fiddletown. The first time I heard Mr. Moreno's 

name was in a related conversation I had with 

Brian Oneto on June 22nd when he told me of 

Moreno's dismissal.  I do not know Mr. Moreno, but 

I can tell from the backlash that he is much loved 

in this community. Perhaps he helped train one of 

the two volunteers staffing our station, I do not 

know that (the other is provided by El Dorado 

County's Pioneer station, as Fiddletown crosses 

over into that county.) But I know personally 

that Chief White has been driving 

this effort for volunteer staffing here.

.

There is much more I have to say about state 

requirements for volunteer firefighter

training and reasons why volunteer firefighter 

staffing is dwindling throughout the 

entire nation, but I will reserve that for now.

.

Sue Wilson

Fiddletown