Did The Daily Times Breach Journalistic Standards?

"Joe.....the following is a letter I sent to the Daily Times on Janurary 8. I sent it to Susan Parker, editorial page editor, and have never had trouble getting printed the same way in the past--I was a Daily Times reporter for nine years until 1987. Since I wrote the letter, Wicomico County State's Attorney Davis Ruark has mentioned "plans" for a hotline to report county government abuse and crime, and an auditor has begun work on county records. Here is what your fellow citizens recommended after hearing the landfill case. Please feel free to use it: I emailed Susan recently to ask if they planned to run the letter AND if they had let Davis read it before publication. If this happened, and I don't know if it did, it is a serious journalistic ethical breach. Anyway, I hope you choose to publish it. Here is my report as cited in the yet unpublished Jan. 8 letter to the editor of the Daily Times:

As secretary of the Wicomico County Grand Jury which heard the landfill case, I drafted, at Wicomico County State's Attorney Davis Ruark's instruction, and with input from all grand jury members, certain recommmendations. None have been publicized to the best of my knowledge, and, believing that was the Grand Jury's intent--and wondering why some five months have passed without such publication--I offer the following, slightly edited excerpts, from my August, 2008, report to Mr. Ruark, of which he acknowleded receipt:

The top recommendations of the Wicomico County Grand Jury stem directly from the so-called "landfill case," in which a number of landfill employees are accused of stealing over $400,000 in county materials along with a county business owner and one of his employees. Specifically, there was evidence presented to the jury that the alleged thefts occurred over a period of years despite several apparent attempts by other employees to bring their suspicions of wrongdoing to light.

Unfortunately, their reports were unknowingly made either to those actually alleged (and now convicted) of having been involved in the thefts, or to others in county government who took no reported action to investigate, stop, or follow up the expressed concerns, thereby increasing county taxpayers' losses by allowing them to occur for a longer period of time. Therefore, this jury recommends:

RAPID institution of an independent "whistleblower" hotline, outside of county government, to take, screen, and when indicated, forward reports of alleged wrongdoing by government employees to Wicomico County State's Attorney Davis Ruark, County Executive Rick Pollitt, and/or others in a position to investigate and act on potential wrongdoing. It was suggested that the Association of Forensic Accountants operates such a service. This hotline is considered a high and achievable priority by this jury.

In addition, as a supplement to the annual county audit, we recommend the hiring of an internal county auditor, either as a new position or on a contractual basis, who would report directly to a new county "audit committee" made up of perhaps four or five members from outside county government. This is considered another important step to more quickly locate and stem potential abuse or waste more rapidly. The internal auditor would be free to examine any and all documents or books from ANY county office or department, perhaps on a random annual basis.

Although the above recommendations arose from the county landfill case, the jury agreed that they should be applied to all municipalities of all sizes in the county, if possible, where even less current review and oversight may be the case. It should be possible to make the hotline available to all county residents.

After hearing dozens of drug cases, jury members expressed concern that, due to the seriousness of this problem, there should be more focus on arresting "kingpins" of local drug activity. To more effectively investigate and arrest mid to upper level drug dealers, the jury recommends an immediate increase in the number of county police officers assigned to the Wicomico County Narcotics Task Force, at least to the historical high of 15. Currently, there are less than half that number, the jury was told (as of last August).

After discussing concerns of some panel members that crime on the Salisbury State University campus is not being properly addressed, it was agreed that enhanced enforcement and cooperation with surrounding police agencies would be beneficial both to the school and to its neighbors.

Finally, this jury wants to go on record--after hearing hundreds of cases from many different city, county, and state police officers-to praise and appreciate the outstanding professionalism and hard work that was evident in virtually every presentation. We feel the county is being very well served by these dedicated men and women.

I believe that by writing this letter I am fulfilling the obligation of the Wicomico County Grand Jury to serve AND to report to the residents of Wicomico County. Why this has not been done previously, I am at a loss to surmise.

Tom Leonard
Hebron"

Joe,

I am asking you in large print to clearly state that until after the sentencing of the last "Landfill" defendant - which takes place in a couple of weeks, that I am not in a position to ask the Circuit Court to accept or order the release of the Grand Jury Report. I thought that Mr. Leonard understood all of this.

I also ask you to print in bold print that what Mr. Leonard has written is NOT an official Grand Jury Report and should not be accepted as such until submitted to the Court and the Court orders its release. His letter at this point, merely represents the view of one member of the Grand Jury.

I will be pleased to release the OFFICIAL Grand Jury report once submitted and the Court so orders. Until then, neither I nor any other law enforcement personnel should comment upon the Grand Jury recommendations most of which, if not all, came from the Forensic Auditor's Report.

Thanks.

DRR

Davis R. Ruark
State's Attorney for Wicomico County
Circuit Courts Building
PO Box 1006
Salisbury, Maryland 21803-1006
(410) 548-4880 x22 (Office)
(410) 860-2425 (Fax)