It was with surprise and great disappointment that I read the June 5 article about the legal dispute between Kris Nelson and the local families attempting to renew the Hastings Building.

I am neither a member of the Hastings group, nor a party to the lawsuit. However, even as an outsider, the number of statements I saw which were, to be generous, demonstrably inaccurate was unacceptable. Some basic research on The Leader’s part would have revealed this.

What’s even more upsetting is that when approached by The Leader for this article, the families behind the Hastings improvements explained they did not feel it would be appropriate to comment until they had submitted documents for a hearing scheduled for Friday, June 14. Had The Leader wanted a more fair and balanced article, they needed only to honor the request to wait a few days, after which a much more complete and accurate story could have been shared. Lacking this, we got only one party’s side of the story, and a predictably slanted result.

From its beginning well over a decade ago, the families involved in the Hastings restoration have been far more patient and accommodating than anyone would ever have the right to ask. To paint this any other way is unfair, inaccurate, and does a great disservice to them and to our community which stands to benefit so much from their efforts. Given the vast amounts of time, financial and emotional resources they have poured into making this vision a wonderful reality, they deserved much better.

Over the past few months, The Leader has run several pieces apparently acknowledging instances where the level of journalistic professionalism fell short, and committing to do better. This article leads to troubling questions about how serious the powers-that-be are about this.

NIK LANCE
PORT TOWNSEND