Admits Frontiersman is right, mostly

To the editor:

I have not always appreciated the coverage that the Frontiersman has recently given to Wasilla Area Seniors Inc. (WASI). The Feb. 11 frontpage headline “Director: WASI woes spurred by Elder Watch” seemed to me to give credence to Sondra Kaplan’s unsubstantiated accusation.

I wasn’t pleased that the first 10 column inches were devoted to spreading her characterization that the concerned members of WASI who have called themselves Mat-Su Elder Watch were “hostile and damaging.” I also did not appreciate reading in the newspaper a comment that was overheard by a reporter when I was talking with friends.

However, I have to admit that your reporter got it right; Kaplan said those things, and so did I.

Critical to a healthy democracy is a free press. Therefore, I appreciate that the Frontiersman assigns staff to research and report WASI issues and tells it like it is, even if sometimes the story seems to cast unflattering light on me.

Thus, I was very disappointed that no reporter was at the special members meeting of WASI which, after about 70 members crowded into a hot, poorly ventilated room, was canceled because there was no quorum of the board. It would have been good to have had your reporter there — someone with a tape recorder and more unbiased ears — when a couple dozen WASI members gathered in the dining room afterwards to talk.

I heard Ms. Kaplan say that, “WASI members have contributed nothing to WASI” and disparage the efforts of members to raise money by making and raffling off a $3,000 quilt. I heard Kaplan blame an underling for the bogus bylaws she distributed.

Did I hear her correctly? Everyone needed your reporter there as a neutral observer and credible witness. So, I hope that you have not decided to stop covering WASI issues.

Some WASI members and their friends have been threatened with lawsuits for speaking out and police action for just meeting for coffee at the center. One woman broke down in sobs yesterday after speaking publicly of her fear of the executive director.

I hope that you have not been subjected to threats of lawsuits, too, and if so, that you will continue to provide reporting in the best traditions of the American free press. You have my respect, if not always my appreciation. Sometimes you get it wrong, but you mostly get it right.

Nobody is perfect.

Anne Kilkenny

WASI and MSEW

member