LEO’s Phillip Bailey really got some people’s attention down at City Hall last week. His March 18 story about the city’s failures to install an anonymous tips line drew angry responses from the Metro’s Auditor and the Mayor’s chief spokesman.
Auditor Mike Norman says that Bailey’s piece was misleading, and wrote a letter charging that Bailey had his mind made up “regardless of the facts.” Now that’s a pretty serious charge, and I suspect that Mr. Norman learned a difficult lesson about media relations in the episode.
In fact, it certainly appears that Norman was ready to stand behind his comments in the piece — until it appeared in print. Maybe, just maybe, Norman was called on the carpet for his statements in LEO, and is now singing a different tune, as told in Bailey’s follow-up this week.
“It seems to me that Mike Norman changed his story,” says LEO editor Stephen George. “I’ve looked through Phillip’s notes and talked with him many times about it. We’re sure of this. I can see how this might get him (Norman) in trouble.”
Norman reports directly to the Mayor and the Metro Council, and is the city’s independent auditor. LEO also published this week a letter from Mayoral spokesman Chad Carlton, who spoke to George at length after the story ran last week.
Carlton’s letter charges that Bailey’s original piece was “inaccurate, misleading” and details the methods employees and citizens currently have for reporting unethical behavior.
A key part of the story about the delays in creating the anonymous tips line is an open records request submitted by LEO asking for correspondence between the Mayor’s Office and Norman on the topic. The administration has refused to grant the request.
LEO has filed an appeal with the attorney general’s office challenging the classification of documents as “drafts” wihch would be exempt from open records. But George said that three separate attorneys have told him that LEO has a legitimate case.
Here’s the way we see it — Norman vented his opinion about the establishment of the Tips Line, then got in hot water with the Administration when the piece came out. But it’s too late.
7 responses so far ↓
1 cindy lamb // Mar 25, 2009 at 11:37 am
Nothing more sobering than dry ink.
2 Steve Magruder (I, not D or R) // Mar 25, 2009 at 12:17 pm
When Norman refers to “abuse”, I wonder if that’s code for a lot of employees suddenly using the system to report all the actual bad behavior that’s going on. The mayor and his administration must realize that their house of cards will come crumbling down as soon as the tip line goes live.
As far as who I will trust, I have no reason to mistrust Phillip Bailey or the LEO. As for this mayor, they have actively built up a mountain of mistrust. My preference is obvious.
3 Earl // Mar 25, 2009 at 6:29 pm
Don’t you find it peculiar the C-J isn’t leading the charge to get the city to open the books?
Maybe if somebody told them the city funnelled some money from the general fund to the McConnell Center at UofL. What a conundrum! Hell, the editorial staff’s collective heads would explode.
4 charlie // Mar 25, 2009 at 6:35 pm
Just one more reason for term limits.
5 anon // Mar 26, 2009 at 1:39 am
I have actually seen these “drafts” with my own eyes.
They are all written on official city letterheads, with “MEMO” or “MEMORANDUM” written on them, with no mention of the word draft on any of them, with the word “Confidential” written in red marker. City’s gonna lose this one!
6 Ed Springston // Mar 26, 2009 at 3:07 am
You mean they will lose yet another one don’t you? Have they ever won anything?
On the Phillip Bailey LEO story I can say this.
Mr. Bailey has interviewed me and done stories that have included me and never have I found him to be lacking in his skills.
He has always been professional, courteous, and very informed. He has always gone out of his way to ensure clarification of anything we have talked about.
Honestly, his thoroughness and eagerness to get it right when he interviews is one reason I do not mind when he calls for an interview. He is one of the few I call back because I know he will get it right the first time and not have a preconceived agenda like most in mainstream.
I may not always agree with him on every topic but he always goes out of his way to ensure fairness and comprehension.
I for one am a fan and would back him against anyone in the City based on my dealings with him.
7 If It Walks Like A Duck… - FatLip // Mar 26, 2009 at 5:34 pm
[...] Bailey’s original story can be found here; his follow-up here; and a nice succinct recap here, courtesy of the Ville [...]
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