BJ Murphy: So, about last month...

Have you ever had something gnaw at you long enough that you finally had to address it?

Last month the City of Kinston requested that Neuse News run a Public Notice informing the community of the proposed Fiscal Year 2020-2021 budget. Having served for eight years as mayor, I know the budget process and numbers well. Glaring to me was the proposed $26,100 increase in the mayor and council’s salary line item. Surely that was a mistake. Surely in a time like this that would not be on the table.

Neuse News correspondent Catherine Hardee reached out to the city manager, mayor, and council members to write a story on the City of Kinston’s budget. She turned in the story on a Wednesday afternoon with quotes from Councilman Sammy Aiken and City Manager Tony Sears. At least two other members of the body decided not to respond to her texts or phone calls. Typically, news stories have multiple voices to ensure a well-rounded story is published.

After some discussion and given the sensitivity of the subject she decided to reach out via text and email to two other members of council. By Thursday, one had not responded and the other referred her to the mayor at the mayor’s request. Therefore, we made the decision to reach out to the mayor for comment. Come Friday he responded, “I can get with you on Monday evening…”. The public hearing was Monday evening, which was too late for a preview story on the public hearing.

At that point we published the story. And, of course, people were outraged. The only elected official willing to go on record, after knowing for multiple days we were working on a budget story, vehemently supported the mayor and council’s pay raise. Right or wrong, deserving or not, it is what we reported because the increase was in the public hearing’s budget and supported by the only member willing to go on record at that time.

Before I go any further, let me clarify two things.

“Come Monday, December 4 at 5:30 p.m., I will freely step aside for our new Mayor. Our country is the greatest on earth because of moments like this. Granted, I’d rather stay, but Don Hardy is now my mayor and yours. I encourage you to join me as I pray for his success. Pray for the team of leaders that surround him that they may be able to carry this momentum to a new level.”

That was my last letter to the citizens of Kinston as mayor. Read the full letter here.

The first thing I want to clarify before moving further is that I am a citizen of this community and genuinely want our mayor and council to be successful on behalf of this community. Until this moment, in the almost three years since leaving office, you have not seen or heard me saying anything negative of our mayor or council.

The second is I am incredibly happy in my profession as a social media marketer and news publisher. I am no longer an elected official and have no desire to seek office in the City of Kinston.

What followed the budget story’s publication was a mischaracterization of the thorough steps Catherine took to ensure EVERY member of the elected body had an opportunity to shape the conversation and set the record straight.

If a member did not support the salary increase, they could have affected that change in a couple of ways. When the City Clerk presented her budget during one of the council’s Zoom budget meetings, any member of the body could have brought up the subject for discussion. Secondly, during our reporting on the public hearing’s budget, any member could have stated what they eventually stated on the night they removed it from the budget…to paraphrase, “we had considered it before, but given the context of the current pandemic and uncertain economic times, we no longer support the salary increases.”

Simple.

Understandable.

Problem solved.

Those two options would have greatly impacted Catherine’s story and the public’s reaction to the proposed increase. Every word she wrote and I published was accurate and something I stand behind.

Simply because I once served and lost does not mean my organization’s intent is to misrepresent the facts. There is no incentive to do that. If that were the case, we would not have held the story for two days and we would not have reached out to all six elected officials.

Nevertheless, we will continue to give elected officials a chance to shape conversations on matters of public interest. That is our duty to our readers and to the community. And it is their duty as elected leaders of the same.

My business colleagues and I have a vested interest in our leaders’ and town’s success. We are building multiple businesses in downtown Kinston and one of us is even constructing his home upstairs at Art 105.

In just two years Neuse News has grown to over 5,000 daily subscribers. We are growing because we are focused on hyper-local issues and state issues that affect us locally.

As a local media organization, we will continue to report on the actions of our governing boards. We will continue to ask for quotes and information. Never do I want to be in a position of using a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to solicit emails and text messages. We are not a “gotcha” organization.

Our goal is to report the facts, give our leaders a chance to shape that discussion, and give the readers a platform to discuss the pros and cons. Ignoring the media does not solve the problem. Picking which media outlet to speak to does not either.

At a time when our community, state and nation need healing Neuse News stands ready to continue reporting the facts and giving our leaders a chance to shape public opinion.