The mysterious
Mr. Lamb (March 8, 2007)
If you happened to see last week's issue of The Lamron, the college student newspaper,
you may have seen a letter to the editor by Greg Lamb attacking me for my opposition
to the proposed Lowe's and alleging that The Clarion had refused to publish letters
on the same subject from Mr. Lamb.
The arguments made against me were familiar:
that Lowe's would bring jobs, taxes, and economic development to Geneseo; that
opponents of Lowe's had somehow forfeited their right to oppose big boxes by not
more vigorously opposing the Wal-Mart SuperCenter or to protect viewsheds by not
more vigorously opposing the recent construction at the college; and that my North
Street address indicated that my motives in opposing to Lowes were only to limit
the number of cars that pass by my front door.
We are all, of course, entitled
to our own opinions on these issues. I trust I have made my views clear enough
in this column.
The arguments made against The Clarion are a different matter.
While I will leave it to Corrin to address this matter more fully, suffice to
say for now that there is no record and no reason to believe that Mr. Lamb ever
contacted The Clarion as he said he did. Corrin is never one to shy from controversy
or hide from critics, and somehow I doubt he would compromise himself to protect
me.
My first move after reading this letter was to reach for my student directory
to contact Mr. Lamb to discuss our differences. I'm certainly not unaccustomed
to students or others disagreeing with me and I enjoy the discussions that result.
Finding no record of a Greg Lamb, I tried the College's online directory. No Greg
Lamb. So he's not a student. I tried the Geneseo phone bok. Nothing. Other towns
in Livingston County? Nope. Hmmm.
I contacted the editor of The Lamron. After
checking with Mr. Lamb, he provided me with the email address that had been used
in submitting the letter to the editor and explained that Mr. Lamb had identified
himself as having spent time in Geneseo due to his relationship to a Geneseo graduate.
Double hmmm. Someone who doesn't live in the area and who apparently has
only a passing relationship to the place has taken enough interest in our local
development skirmish to allegedly write numerous times to The Clarion, to figure
out where I live and where I work, and to learn about Wal-Mart and the college?
Call me skeptical.
I sent an email to Mr. Lamb, responding to his charges
and asking him to explain why he was interested in our local affairs. More directly,
I asked him if he worked for Lowe's or Newman Development Group.
He responded
with a free speech defense, said he didn't work for Lowe's or Newman, and took
a pass on the opportunity to explain where he lived or why he was interested in
this matter.
I don't know who Greg Lamb is or on whose behalf he wrote his
letter to the editor. I do have my suspicions. Contributing to those suspicions
is that Mr. Lamb sent his letter to the editor of The Lamron.
Surely someone
with the intimate knowledge of Geneseo that Mr. Lamb appears to have would realize
that we have another weekly paper in this community and that it and The Clarion
have somewhat different editorial orientations toward Lowe's. Wouldn't The Livingston
County News be the perfect place to send his letter?
I believe Mr. Lamb sent
his letter to The Lamron in an effort to embarrass and harass me at my workplace.
Remember, as discussed here last week, the anonymous phone caller that called
Kurt Cylke warned him that Newman was preparing to sue him and also said that
Newman was working its political connections to get Kurt fired from the college?
So who is Greg Lamb and why did he write this letter? There seems to be a short
list of suspects. Ask yourself, who has an interest in embarrassing and harassing
both me and The Clarion?
If you have any ideas please let me know. Inquiring
minds want to know.
Editors note: At press
time it was reported by The Lamron that the mysterious Mr. Lamb has retracted
his claim about The Clarion. Stay tuned!
