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Gossip Guys

Yesterday, journalism. Today, the rumor mill. No, not that Rumor Mill. This rumor mill:

Rumor mill -- noun phrase
The source of rumors, especially those that seem to be deliberately passed along.
Wednesday evening a former OMCA board member showed up with the stunning news that Michael McCall had resigned from the Inner Arbor Trust. Oh, and would they like to consider Cy Paumier's plan again?
They declined.
Still, that was pretty troubling news. What could it possibly mean that Michael McCall was leaving the Inner Arbor Trust? By the next day similar stories were swirling around town--Mr. McCall had resigned, Mr. McCall had been fired, and a lot of other things that don't bear repeating.
There's just one thing. Michael McCall hasn't resigned from the Inner Arbor Trust, nor has he been fired or anything else of the sort. But someone, or rather someone(s), wanted the Columbia community to believe that he had. To sow doubt. To create discord.
"Michael McCall has resigned! Now's the time to redo the plan!"
Now who would stand to benefit from that?
By the end of the day, our rumor-mongering had reached fever pitch when a member of the CA Board tried to pass off the same story as truth at their regular board meeting. This same member is on the Inner Arbor Trust Board and is known to oppose the plan.
Hmm...I wonder how this rumor got started.
Could it be there are still grumpy people out there waiting for just the right opportunity to destroy the Inner Arbor Plan for Merriwether Park in Symphony Woods and seize control 'for Rouse, for Columbla Pioneers, and for Cy Paumier?' It seems that there are.
And this week they outed themselves in a big way.







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