I have had some contact over the last day or so with Mike Gatto, the newly-elected State Assemblyman.
Some of his staffers were disturbed by a blog post I had written, titled "Is Mike Gatto Going After Michael Higby?"
In the blog post, I said that Gatto and his staff members may have been involved in creating a nasty blog about Mayor Sam creator Michael Higby. I didn't accuse them outright, but I did list them as one of several suspects.
Higbys Mayor Sam blog has been a thorn in the side of many local politicians... with many political figures admitting that they read it first thing every morning... to make sure they are not being talked about in a storyline there.
Gatto had taken a severe beating recently by the Mayor Sam blog, which was fairly one-sided in its support for Gatto's opponent in the recent election, Republican businessman Sunder Ramani.
Gatto was obviously not happy about this blog post and the way it portrayed him. He contacted me to state very clearly that he and his staff were not involved in this petty attack on Michael Higby.
His quote:
I wondered why Michael Higby was bashing me so hard, so untruthfully, and so personally. I was like, "what did I ever do to this guy, for him to 'have it out for me' so much?"
So I asked around, and found out that he thinks my team put up a blog calling him a slanderer and other things. As stupid as it is to try to prove a negative, I think it is worth saying that I, my team, my staff, my consultants, my friends, etc. did not put up that blog. In the grand scheme of things, I suppose this matters little, unless of course you value the truth. As someone who had to deal with a lot of very nasty and untrue personal attacks, I would never let anyone associated with me make similar personal attacks, in any format, including a web site.
So I asked around, and found out that he thinks my team put up a blog calling him a slanderer and other things. As stupid as it is to try to prove a negative, I think it is worth saying that I, my team, my staff, my consultants, my friends, etc. did not put up that blog. In the grand scheme of things, I suppose this matters little, unless of course you value the truth. As someone who had to deal with a lot of very nasty and untrue personal attacks, I would never let anyone associated with me make similar personal attacks, in any format, including a web site.
Gattos explanation seems sincere enough to me, and I tend to believe believe him because as an elected official, it would be beneath him to act in this manner. So there you have it.
Gatto and staff clear the air. Let's see what Mayor Sam will have to say about his.
For the record...I do not support Mike Gatto or his politics. But I am happy to let someone respond if they feel they have been unfairly accused of something.
