Deep Background

The biggest surprise to me as a blogger has been when people send me anonymous emails. I just wasn't expecting that. It doesn't happen often, but writers share two qualities: they think someone should know what they are seeing, and they fear reprisal if their identities are known.

The problem for me is that an anonymous email doesn't give me enough to write a responsible post, no matter how important the topic. I combine evidence from the public record, my own first-hand experience, and conversations with people I know and trust to bring balance to pieces that I write. I'm not a journalist by any stretch, but the responsibilities of a journalist still weigh heavily upon me.

That being said, there are two issues that I haven't addressed on the blog because of this, and yet I still think they bear discussion. So I am going to put them out to you in case you have information to support or disprove them. Hello, court of public opinion. I suppose I may regret this.

Here goes:

• I have been hearing that certain members of the Oakland Mills Village Board have been treating the professional staff of the Village in an unprofessional, negative, accusatory manner.
• Word has reached me that the transition of power at PTACHC from one president to the next has been quite the bumpy ride. The person who wrote me had concerns about leadership styles.

So, can anyone out there go on the record about either one of these? They are both things I would write about if I had enough reliable information.

And while we are at it, were any of you at the Harriet Tubman celebration at Ridgely's Run over the weekend? Word travels fast in Howard County and if the rumblings I am hearing are true, that's a bigger story than the other two combined.

Keep me posted.