To the editor:

Candidates who don’t tell the truth need to admit when they’re wrong. A city commission candidate has falsely charged Progressive Lawrence Campaign of conducting a letter-writing campaign targeting him as the “sole supporter” of the Wal-Mart proposal. He should apologize for making this false accusation. Then he should get on with his campaign.

News media that report false claims without verifying their accuracy must correct the record promptly. The March 13 Journal-World printed this candidate’s baseless accusation without asking anyone involved with Progressive Lawrence Campaign to refute it, let alone comment on it, in the same article. Had the paper taken a few minutes to call me, or any member of the PLC steering committee, we would have pointed out why the charge is false and malicious.

Progressive Lawrence Campaign is not organizing a letter-writing campaign against this candidate, or any other candidates. We do not encourage our supporters to write letters attacking one candidate’s position on a new Wal-Mart. PLC’s hundreds of supporters in our community have strong views about the city commission elections. We care about our community’s health. We support candidates who share our aspirations. And we make our support public. That’s simply democracy in action. It’s also the right way to campaign.

Progressive Lawrence Campaign appreciates the opportunity to present the facts and to refute one candidate’s reckless, false charges about our efforts to build a better Lawrence.

Karl Brooks, chair,

Progressive Lawrence

Campaign