Saundra McDavid

My letter to the Idaho Statesman. Do they dare publish it?

The Statesman should have disclosed who was involved with the “unsigned” editorial published on Friday, April 8th in support of Eagle Mayor Bandy’s Tax and Spend budget; this being yet another effort by the Statesman Editorial Board to defend the actions of Phil Bandy; the candidate you endorsed for Eagle Mayor. The readers had a right to know that Jason Pierce was a contributor to your “Our View” editorial and that Mr. Pierce publicly endorsed Phil Bandy for Mayor and currently holds multiple committee positions in the Bandy administration. Mayor Bandy has previously admitted he is in favor of editing news articles (Boise Weekly, Bombarded with News, July 23, 2008). Having a Bandy appointee as a member of your editorial board and then publishing Bandy’s talking points guised as a neutral editorial calls into question your journalistic ethics, the credibility of your editorials, and your motives in your endorsement of candidates.