By Will Collette
[Note: the Westerly Sun published a version of the following letter to the editor in its October 19, 2011 edition. See other responses to Mageau here, here, here, here and here.]
On September 27 and October 13, the Westerly Sun published long letters from former Charlestown Town Council President Jim Mageau in which he attacked several people by name, including me.
One reason why Mageau is particularly angry at me is that Tom Ferrio and I publish an on-line news and opinion blog called Progressive Charlestown that has criticized him and his close ally, Charlestown Town Council member Lisa DiBello. We have uncovered things he would prefer we didn’t reveal and stated opinions he opposes.
Mageau is also angry because we refused to post a piece he “dared” us to publish. That piece was similar to the September 27 op-ed printed by the Sun. We refused to publish it in Progressive Charlestown because he made personal and defamatory remarks about named individuals without providing any evidence of his claims.
When my Progressive Charlestown colleague Tom Ferrio asked him to produce his evidence, he refused, called us names and told us he was taking his attack writing to the Sun.
Mageau is angry at a lot of people. In addition to Tom and me, he names my wife Cathy, Deb Carney, Donna Walsh, Frank Glista and Paula Andersen as people who have committed various offenses. Generally, Jim Mageau seems to be angry all the time and at more people and things than I can imagine. Fortunately, most other people seem to be able to control their tempers and let good judgment and the facts guide their actions.
Mageau charges my wife and the entire Charlestown Democratic Town Committee with some sort of conspiracy for trying to conceal its relationship with Progressive Charlestown, a relationship both the CDTC and Progressive Charlestown have openly explained on many occasions.
One new wrinkle in Mageau’s latest screed is his claim that the CDTC controls Progressive Charlestown because the CDTC chair (my wife Cathy) supervises and approves my writing.
Obviously, in Mageau’s eyes, I would never say, do or write anything in Progressive Charlestown without Cathy’s direct supervision and approval.
Even though Jim Mageau has said some pretty wild stuff in his time, this claim leaves me breathless. He obviously doesn’t know me and doesn’t know Cathy.
I don’t ask Cathy’s approval for one single thing I write in Progressive Charlestown. In fact, I make a point of keeping her out of most of what I write because I don’t want my personal opinions to be attached to the Democratic Town Committee.
Indeed, the reason Tom Ferrio and I started Progressive Charlestown last February was because we wanted to address issues and offer our opinions on subjects outside the normal scope of the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee.
Tom and I have never made it a secret that we are both proud and active CDTC members, but Progressive Charlestown allows us to do more. Plain and simple.
Through Progressive Charlestown, we can be reporters and commentators. We can cover local news and events, review restaurants, write about music and culture, crack jokes, and be a unique information source for our town. We can voice our individual opinions.
Mageau will have to do better than simply claim my opinions are subject to my wife’s approval or that the content of Progressive Charlestown is under the CDTC’s control if he wants to prove his point.
Finally, in his October 13 Sun letter, Mageau says Progressive Charlestown is a “cesspool of slander and lies” without a single example or shred of evidence. Yet, when we asked Mageau to come forward with proof for the personal attacks he asked us to publish in Progressive Charlestown, he refused, and took it to you.
Readers of Progressive Charlestown will notice immediately that every news and opinion article is meticulously sourced and we include links to source material. We not only do the research to back up with we say, but we give readers easy access to check out our sources themselves. The same cannot be said of Jim Mageau.
Sincerely,
Will Collette
p.s. While Mageau seems to think Progressive Charlestown is a "cesspool of slander and lies," I'd like to think we're the denitrification system of slander and lies, as we document and expose rather than fly off half-cocked without double-checking the facts as Brother Jim is known to do.
p.s. While Mageau seems to think Progressive Charlestown is a "cesspool of slander and lies," I'd like to think we're the denitrification system of slander and lies, as we document and expose rather than fly off half-cocked without double-checking the facts as Brother Jim is known to do.