The Leader sucked. It was so bad I had to launch the Port Townsend Free Press to cover stories any motivated, curious and responsible journalist would cover. Like the Cherry Street Project. “They’re doing what?” the Leader should have exclaimed upon first word that the city was barging across the Strait of Juan de Fuca a 60-year old apartment building as an “affordable housing” project. A good news editor would have directed reporters to dig into the facts that showed this to have been a boondoggle based on bogus estimates. Instead, they published Pollyannish press releases as news.

I am convinced that today’s Leader would have been all over that story, and may have so well informed the public that the city would not have doubled-down on failure and incurred a $1.4 million debt, which taxpayers are still paying down.

Today’s Leader sees the big picture: we are a diverse, divided, blessed and troubled community. It gives space to opposing viewpoints and does not shy from controversy. It is courageous. Its coverage of rising salaries at City Hall, for example, deserves applause, particularly in light of the fact, which the Leader reminds readers, that big raises are being handed out while the city is in its third straight year of operating in the red.

Dang, our little city has a truly professional, feisty, inquisitive and proudly independent newspaper—yet another feature that makes this such a special place in this great country of ours. Local journalism needs our support, regardless if we agree with all we read. I let my subscription lapse years ago. I just re-upped for 2 years.

Jim Scarantino

Port Townsend