On May 31, 2013 Editor Dawn Walschinski was contacted regarding libelous claims made in the ‘Letters & Opinions…’ section of the May 30 edition of the Kalihwisaks (page 9B) by Sherrole Benton, a notoriously ardent if ill-informed defender of Oneida Seven Generations Corporation and their dioxin-emitting incinerator projects.
Editor Walschinski’s supervisor is Internal Service Division Director Joanie Buckley and she was made aware of the situation. Buckley is reported to have a $160,000+ salary and yet she openly admitted in responding to notification of Editor Walschinski’s allowance of libelous claims that she doesn’t actually read the Kalihwisaks (Maybe she’s too busy with Strateglobe, LLC.)
After Joanie Buckley made assurances that she would be more responsible in monitoring the standards and content of the Kalihwisaks, Sherrole Benton’s libelous claims were addressed in the June 13, 2013 ‘Letters & Opinions…‘ section by the target of her attempted character assassination.
Unfortunately, Joanie Buckley seems to be either asleep at the wheel or secretly supportive as Editor Walschinski continues to abuse her authority by enforcing double standards regarding letters submitted to the Kalihwisaks.
When Beverly Somers submitted a letter for publication in the July 11, 2013 Kalihwisaks about reasons to dissolve OSGC that referred to financial figures in OSGC’s own ‘Financial Statements and Supplementary Information Years Ended September 30, 2012 and 2011’, which is easily available to every Tribe member, Editor Walschinski weirdly insisted that Beverly cite specific page numbers for each of her references.
However, in that same edition of the Kalihwisaks, Dale Wheelock was allowed to have a letter published claiming all sorts of financial figures and accusations that would be difficult for Tribe members to readily independently verify. (Here is something you can verify: Chairperson Ed Delgado felt he needed to get a restraining order against Wheelock based on Dale’s reaction to being fired from the Oneida Housing Authority, Brown Co. Case # 2012CV1865.)
When Editor Walschinski was asked what proof she required from Wheelock to verify his claims and the dollar amounts in his letter, given Dawn’s demands that Somers provide exact page numbers of each of the dollar amounts that she cited, Dawn Walschinski replied in a July 17, 2013 email which was cc’d to Joanie Buckley:
Mr. Wheelock did not submit supporting documentation.
No explanation, no admission of her selective enforcement, and no apology for being a barefaced hypocrite.
But what else should Oneidas expect from a person who has misused her position to bend over backwards to always try to showcase Oneida Seven Generations Corporation in the best light possible (an admittedly difficult task) while allowing, perhaps even encouraging, her reporting staff to carry OSGC’s water by referring to Tribe members who are looking out for the health, safety and welfare of the entire Oneida community as “antagonists” and letting OSGC CEO Kevin Cornelius use the front page to shed crocodile tears about being the victim of a ‘misinformation campaign’ when the truth is that he is the reigning champion of misinformation.
Dawn Walschinski should be held accountable for her biased two-tier enforcement and Joanie Buckley should be held accountable for (at best) dozing off on her duties.
