Public officials carry many responsibilities, but one of the most essential is accepting scrutiny. When decisions are made with public money, on public time and in public office, the people deserve clear, truthful answers. That is not persecution. That is democracy.

To suggest that accurate reporting is an attack is to undermine the public’s right to know.

A free press is not here to flatter, conceal or sanitize. Its purpose is to illuminate the truth even when that truth is uncomfortable.

Accountability is not persecution. It is the standard that every public servant agrees to the moment they take the job. And it is the expectation that officials act with integrity and transparency, answer questions, provide records and recognize the public’s ownership of the information entrusted to them.

The press is not the enemy. It does not create the facts; it reports them. By holding leaders to account, the press protects the community, safeguards taxpayer money, and ensures that no official operates beyond public view.

That is service.

Our community deserves openness, not defensiveness. It deserves leaders who welcome transparency, not fear it. And it deserves a free press empowered to do its job without being accused of wrongdoing for simply telling the truth.

Facts do not harm honest conduct. Public records do not injure ethical decision-making. Sunshine only stings when it lands on something never meant to be seen.