WHAT IS THE ‘AD HOMINEM’ APPROACH TO REPORTING ?

“Ad hominem abusive usually involves insulting or belittling one’s opponent in order to invalidate their argument…
This tactic is logically fallacious because insults and even true negative facts about the opponent’s personal character have nothing to do with the logical merits of the opponent’s arguments or assertions,” quoting Wikipedia.

Now we have the former Nisqually Valley News reporter, most recent City of Yelm Community and Government Relations Coordinator (laid off in 2009) & Friends of the Yelm Library official Cindy Teixeira spouting in today’s newspaper all sorts of things that do not correlate with the facts.

Instead of segregating people on the Library issue, she should have the vision to see everyone wants a good library here.
That people are called “naysayers” that are “distractions”, yet who have come forward and volunteered their time, given large donations, pledged even more no-strings-attached monies for a new building, funded all sorts of children & adult programs over the years & wanted the truth on this issue to be shared with the public, is well, sad and unfortunate!
We’re all in this one together, Cindy!
However, this attitude shows us why we don’t have a public library building here.

Let’s examine Texieira’s letter, item-by-item. Here are some of her assertions that caught my eye:

1. “Don’t let the naysayers be a distractions”

The title of Teixeira’s Letter to the Editor is referring to me.
Nisqually Valley News editor/publisher Keven Graves put this title on there in reference to my constant bringing out the facts on the library for 5 years being a “naysayer” & a “distraction”.
This is the ad hominem approach to reporting.

2. “Some people are confused and frightened into thinking the Yelm library will disappear because the lease is up next year.”

I have always quoted Mayor Harding, who has publicly stated the Yelm Library we have come to know & love will be very much smaller, since the city cannot pay for the current lease itself after 2011.
Here is what Harding said in his State of the City Address on February 9, 2010 about the Library’s future.
CLICK HERE
No one I have heard has EVER said the library will disappear.
This is the ad hominem approach to reporting.

3. “The process, as usual in Yelm, is only hampered by those who continue to scream, “I told you so.'”

Yelm Community Blog readers KNOW I have been raising the issue of Yelm Library’s future for over 5 years and continually brought this to public awareness.
While Teixeira means me, I have never said, “I told you so,” rather continued to call for concerted action by the city & community.
This is the ad hominem approach to reporting.

4. “There are those who want to speak up on behalf of the library but don’t want to be perceived as being associated with the whiners.”

Again, Teixeira means me as “whiner”, since an NVN letter writer called me by that name on the Park Toilets funding issue a few weeks ago.
Why do those people not speak out? Where is their courage to do so? Would Texeira & others call them whiners if they do speak out? HMMM?
This is the ad hominem approach to reporting.

5. “Timberland’s situation with the Yelm library in a rented space is not such a big deal. Timberland says the agency is not in the business of providing facilities and yet about one-third of the libraries in the 27 library system are in fact owned by Timberland or are in a configuration not in keeping with the agency’s ancient policy.
In other words, Yelm is not the only exception to their rules:
there are so many exceptions the rules are irrelevant.
It is time for Timberland’s board of directors to scrap a 50-year-old policy that does not apply to today’s economic circumstances.
It is time for the City of Yelm to make the library a top-shelf issue. Both agencies need to step pout of their own way and let us get to work.”

HMMM! Two Agencies? Guess she means TRL & the City of Yelm.
TRL is out ‘of the way’ as their Board of Directors said on March 31, 2010 they would no longer fund rent in a Yelm leased facility beyond 2011.
TRL Director Michael Crose told the Yelm Community Blog all TRL libraries in incorporated cities and towns are in public buildings except Montesano (which was donated) & Yelm’s current facility in leased space. Crose said, “Not surprising considering that our mandate is to assure that residents in those areas receive quality library service.”
Crose continued, “Timberland DOES own or lease several buildings in un-incorporated areas of the five-counties” (totaling 7 of the 27 libraries), & these are very small libraries.
For a public library in Yelm, the city must take command to acquire that space. This is their responsibility.
This is the ad hominem approach to reporting.

I do agree with Teixeria on this: “It is time for the City of Yelm to make the library a top-shelf issue.”
Yet the time to have made this a priority was 10 or 5 years ago.

6. They (Friends of the Library) have provided scores of thousands of dollars to the library with no strings attached.
I emphasize that because the library has had some big donors who provided funds with special interests in mind.”

Hmmm, again!
Teixeira again is referring to my wife & I, however without the facts!
When TRL was about to open in the Fay Fuller Building, Yelm’s Librarian at the time, Kristen Blalack approached us and asked if we would be willing to donate some titles to the new library, as the space was being increased from the former capacity of 30,000 titles to 54,000 titles and she did not want the new library to look empty.
YES, we did make a specific donation of $25,000 to house the complete book, CD & videotape archive of Ramtha’s School of Enlightenment in the new building. After all, the School was housed in Yelm, had thousands of students & their families that lived here and students that visited from all over the world.
That donation brought thousands of new patrons to the Yelm Library.
Our donation was welcomed then by TRL officials, as the single-largest donation in Yelm Library history, even garnering a write-up then by Teixeira on the front-page of her former employer’s newspaper.
Some of those funds still have yet to be earmarked & we have no issue donating the balance to the general fund for Yelm, once a new facility is established.
We also met with a TRL Foundation representative & Ms. Blalack in summer of 2007 at their request to discuss the future of a public Yelm Library Building.
We offered an additional $25,000 of seed money for a facility, no strings attached.
We were told then the city was not interested – the timing was not right.
When I raised the then-looming Fay Fuller Building lease’s 2012 deadline as Library Board Chair 3 years ago & went public in the annual Yelm Library Board Report to the City Council, whose wording TRL officials approved back in March, 2008, Yelm Friends of the Library was silent & they have been ever since regarding the library’s future – until Mrs. Teixeira’s letter today. HMMM!
We have also been strong supporters of the library for over 15 years, funding programs here for children & adults.
Omissions of these facts is the ad hominem approach to reporting.

7. “It is time to stop pointing fingers, whining, stalling or whatever is holding up the process.”

Meaning, I am the ‘whiner’ in Teixeira’s view.
However, this is not in my hands.
For over three years, I have called on the city and leaders to come forward, with only Teixeira’s & the NVN’s type of ‘ad hominem’ rhetoric as a response.
Yes, Mrs. Teixeira, you need to “stop pointing fingers” and call for a united approach to getting a structure here.
This is the City of Yelm’s responsibility for a public structure in their town & they know that!
This is the ad hominem approach to reporting.

As I said on August 6th, “UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL” on this issue.

I continue to be absolutely amazed at the lack of candor on the library issue, the waste of time in providing our area with a suitable building & the amount of energy keeping the facts from the public!

Mrs. Teixeira, as a Friends of the Library member, you can politicize the future of the Yelm Library and use the ‘ad hominem’ approach now that crunch-time is here about the library’s future
OR
you can rally ALL peoples in this endeavor and no longer segregate some by pointing fingers at whom you mislabel “whiners”.

To quote Texieira,
“The process, as usual in Yelm, is only hampered by those who continue to scream…”
so she says, and by those who don’t let the true facts be known!

Are we all going to reach out and stand together on this
or
be divided?
I reach my hand out to you.
Will you take mine for the greater good of our community in our desire for a world class library or not?

“UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL”