By Rory Ryan
The Highland County Press
Some days are better than others in the newspaper business. Today has not been one of the better ones. More on that in a minute.
Some of my best days in this business involved covering local high school sports, especially when the teams were winning. Three decades ago, I wrote a preseason column in which I predicted that Coach Jim Horne's Hillsboro Indians would finish the season at 9-1. Coach Horne quickly called me and complained that the column was not fair and put too much pressure on his team.
In retrospect, it was not only unfair, but also inaccurate. Coach Horne's Indians finished the regular season at 10-0 and advanced to the state playoffs. I was wrong.
As local Judge Kevin L. Greer has told me a time or two, I am often wrong, but never in doubt.
Nevertheless, covering Coach Horne's Indians when they were SBC champions years ago was a lot of fun and some of the good days in this business.
The same goes for the Paul Cluxton-led Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs, coached by Joe Wills around the same time. Reporting on those games was free and easy – and also fun.
As to those days when things are much less enjoyable, many court cases and car wrecks readily come to mind. There is no satisfaction in that work, aside from the fact that we have a job to do and do our best to be accurate and fair as to what we can confirm at the given moment.
This week, we reported on an investigative report on the village of Greenfield by Scott Hughes, a police officer since 1997 and one who is actively involved in reviewing and training police practices and law enforcement policies. He is the chief of police in Hamilton Township in Warren County. You can read Chief Hughes' full report on our website. I seriously doubt he had any satisfaction in this. Nor should anyone else.
The report was ordered by Greenfield Village Council last month, after a public presentation by GPD Chief of Police Jeremiah Oyer and GPD dispatcher Misty Breakfield.
After his investigation, Chief Hughes' report boiled down to this: “It is essential to address the initial inaccuracies that arose during discussions led by Chief Oyer and Ms. Breakfield to clarify any misunderstandings. While their statements were made in good faith, they were later found to be incorrect, leading to confusion within the council and the community. Chief Oyer's concerns about potential felonies and security risks, though severe, were ultimately unfounded."
Those allegations, for the most part, were directed against Greenfield City Manager Todd Wilkin. That is not only unfortunate, it is simply wrong, as Chief Hughes states in his report.
The dilemma now facing members of Greenfield Village Council and their duties to the community is this: Now what? How do you move on from this?
As an outsider who visits Greenfield almost every Thursday of the year for newspaper deliveries, I guess my opinion doesn't mean too much. Granted, I did work in Greenfield for some time, but I am not nor have ever been a resident. You could correctly say that I do not have a dog in this fight.
But I do know this: City Manager Wilkin has told me that Chief Oyer is a good chief of police. I agreed with that a year or two ago, and I still do. I like and respect both men.
Given Chief Hughes' report on his independent investigation, it is my opinion that a few apologies are owed to the city manager. Moreover, in the best interest of public service in the village of Greenfield, I truly believe that Chief Oyer and City Manager Wilkin ought to sit down, have a cup of coffee, and ask one another, "how can we work together and move forward in the best interests of our town?"
This ought to be a resolvable issue, not only for the police chief and city manager, but most importantly, for the members of village council and the community they represent.
Go back and listen to the wise words of Julia Wise at a recent council meeting.
Greenfield is a great town. Support each other. Do the right thing. You are all in the business of public service. Act like it.
And again, I am a dog owner, but I do not have one in this fight. I take no sides, other than trying to inform the citizens and taxpayers.
Rory Ryan is publisher and owner of The Highland County Press, Highland County's only locally owned and operated newspaper.
