The following was submitted to the Ithaca Voice as an Op-ed on July 9th, 2022, in response to ‘The importance of our new media outlets,’ an Op-ed written by Brian Liberatore and published by the Ithaca Voice on July 8th, 2022. As the Ithaca Voice has elected not to publish the response, it is reproduced here.
I find Mr. Liberatore’s op-ed on Reimagining Public Safety to be very curious. Liberatore invites the reader to dismiss the county ethics inquiry into Reimagining Public Safety as a “sad excuse for a scandal,” while simultaneously assigning legitimacy to the Voice’s coverage on the issue. I believe the intent of this editorial is to prime the readership of the Voice in advance of the substance of the ethics complaint being made available to the public. The document likely contains “scandal-worthy details,” as Mr. Liberatore put it in his letter. The fact that there were procedural and ethical violations is incontrovertible. The extent of those ethical breaches and the attendant fallout to the Reimagining process remains to be seen.
Preemptively dismissing future revelations while telling people to trust the Voice because “They are what good journalism looks like” is Machiavellian. I was therefore unsurprised to discover that Mr. Liberatore is a Strategy Consultant at a consulting firm. I would be interested to know if Liberatore authored his editorial on his own volition or did so at the behest of People For The American Way and former Mayor Svante Myrick.
Myrick’s lobbying efforts, a subject of the county ethics inquiry, have taken many forms. As Executive Director of People For The American Way, Myrick presided over the creation of ‘Ithacan’s For Reimagining Public Safety.’ This quasi grassroots advocacy organization promotes adoption of the Reimagining plan. Myrick’s employees at People For The American Way routinely author letters to the editor, speak at city meetings and give interviews without disclosing their employment by Myrick. The fact that this behavior continues while the ethics inquiry unfolds is difficult to justify.
“Sloppily delivered good intentions” in this instance begin with the infamous GQ article; a disaster with consequences that continue to reverberate. Within two months of the GQ article, 15% of Ithaca Police officers had left the department. Despite a new contract and a $15,000 bonus for lateral transfers, IPD finds itself unable to recruit & hemorrhaging staff. Veteran officers in the prime of their career are choosing to walk away. Mayor Lewis insists it has nothing to do with the Reimagination process. Lewis’ reticence to acknowledge the consequences of Reimagination are likely rooted in the fact that she is Myrick’s chosen successor. It is not her place to call out errors committed by her predecessor & political ally.
I have not read much about these issues in the Ithaca Voice.
Know that there are paid lobbyists attempting to manipulate public opinion in favor of the Reimagining process. An example is this editorial published in the Ithaca Voice by People For The American Way employee Alana Byrd. This fact was only acknowledged after it was pointed out to an Ithaca Voice staff member. I don’t know if Mr. Liberatore’s editorial is yet another example of this phenomenon. Neither do you. Take what is written in the Ithaca Voice, and any publication, with a grain of salt.
-Zachary Winn, IthacaCrime.com, Republican Candidate for Mayor of Ithaca