At last week’s Republican candidate forum one of the questions asked of county commissioner candidates was about the recent lawsuits stemming from the termination of two Planning Department employees. The Daily Bee’s article, “Forum is a tale of two counties,” surprised many, including me, by liberally misrepresenting and twisting Dan McDonald’s answers.

The first inaccuracy was the reporter’s comment that “McDonald downplayed the litigation as a fantasy conjured by the media.” The reporter added that “the cases brought by Carlson and Marley are real and a matter of public record.”

Of course they are. McDonald said nothing about the lawsuits being a fantasy; he spoke about the content of the lawsuits. Big difference.

The second inaccuracy concerned the Clagstone conservation easement proposal. The reporter made the statement that McDonald objects to it “because public funds would be paid to Stimson not to develop a massive housing project.” That appears to have come from the reporter’s imagination. McDonald’s “heartburn” was with taxpayer money going to a for-profit company and the reduced access that goes along with conservation easements.

To set the record straight, I believe a corrective statement by the Bee is in order, and am asking you, please, to do so.

ANNE WILDER CHAMBERLAIN

Priest River