Bloomfield mayor uses Facebook to dispute, correct newspaper story

STAFF REPORT

Thursday, May 16, 2013, 11:58 a.m. — Bloomfield Mayor Rhonda Hagan is using Facebook to correct “false information” that appeared Wednesday, May 15 in a Kentucky Standard story about the Bloomfield City Council.

The story by Jennifer Corbett stated that a glitch in grant funding paperwork “will cause the city of Bloomfield to lose more than $130,000 in grant funding.” In her Facebook post, Hagan said the City of Bloomfield did not lose any money and the city was not at fault. She also noted that the loss of some grant money won’t impact the project that will connect Bloomfield to the City of Bardstown’s sewer plant.

“The bid for the project came in lower than anticipated which allowed us additional money to be used for line and pump station repairs,” Hagan wrote in her post. “The money to cover the additional cost for pipe came from this additional money. We still have over $600,000 to use on repairs so we are still ahead!”

Hagan also disputed Corbett’s description of the sewer line project as “stalled,” noting “the project was never stalled.”

Another inaccuracy Hagan noted in Corbett’s story was the statement the city had a surplus police car. There is no surplus police car, Hagan wrote. “We have an old light bar for surplus, not a police car.”

Hagan said she has requested the Kentucky Standard publish a retraction “due to the false information reported.” She wrote she felt it necessary to use Facebook due to the implications readers might reach by reading the newspaper story.

“Due to the extent of the damage this article has caused I felt it necessary to inform the public in every way the truth of the situation,” she wrote.

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