Letter to the Editorial Page Editor – Pt 5

Part 5

In the Dixon years the District has had its fingerprints on several such character assassinations. The first was committed by Ralph Doty using his Fargo Forum funded column in the Budgeteer to utterly annihilate my reputation three days before Judy Seliga-Punyko defeated me in the 2007 election. Doty hadn’t lived in town during my time on the School Board yet he was happy to mischaracterized my adventures as a board member and make me sound like a scumbag. For its part the Tribune enthused in its endorsement of Judy Seliga-Punyko that she was a fresh face.

So, did taxpayer money flow via soft money from JCI to Steve Greenfield to the unemployed Xxxxxx Xxxxxx? Can you blame me for wondering? Where was the $84 million in public “soft money” spent. Yes, it is public data all right but looking at it is like peeking under a dusty rug. We can’t have any of that. We should instead keep our eyes focused straight forward to the future, like a draft horse wearing blinders. I think that is a pretty fair description of the School Board’s and the Tribune’s editorial outlook.

The problem with that outlook is simple. As long as there are enough people to elect me to the school board even after I’m quoted in the Trib as saying that gangrene is spreading in the Duluth Schools there is good reason to look under the rug. Art Johnston, stinker that he is, and I both think it’s imperative to build back that public trust again. That requires accountability. That requires disclosure.

I think it is a damned shame that the Duluth News Tribune has not been on our side in the pursuit of the truth.

With humility and a little indignation, your friend,

Harry Welty

* denotes small changes correcting typos in the original email.

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