Over the years, the Gay & Lesbian Times has taken on the role of community watchdog, often reporting and editorializing on elected officials and community organizations that we believe have made missteps or failed in serving our community – and it’s rare we pull any punches. It’s what makes us different from other GLBT news sources in San Diego (and the country, for that matter), and we are proud of that.

But who calls us on the carpet when we make mistakes? Well, you do. And you should.

Last week’s editorial, “Are You a Grower or a Show-er,” which stated that the newly formed Hillcrest Town Council’s (HTC) position on further development in Hillcrest was “no growth,” prompted some criticism from HTC members — criticism we must say we agree with. Let’s just get right to it.

As explained in a letter to the editor by Andrew Towne on page 11 of this week’s issue, the HTC has not taken a “no growth” position on future development in Hillcrest. According to Towne, the development committee passed a motion asking the HTC to approve the following policy statement: “New development in Hillcrest should fit in with adjacent housing in terms of size, lot footprint, height, bulk, setbacks, type of housing, character and integrity, with allowances made for zoning boundaries.”

It was this policy statement that development committee member Don Skolnik likened to “almost a no-change measure.” The statement, however, has yet to be approved by the greater HTC. We apologize for the error.

Our error is actually good news for you. As the council has yet to take a final vote on this policy statement, Hillcrest residents may still attend the upcoming Hillcrest Town Council meeting and lend their votes to either approve or reject it.

The next HTC meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 10, at 6:30 p.m. at the Joyce Beers Community Center in Hillcrest.

We also got some heat for quoting an e-mail thread without verifying all sources. As an e-mail is a second-hand source and can easily be manipulated, it was our responsibility to check. While we had no reason to believe that Skolnik doctored the e-mail thread – and he didn’t – it’s always a journalist’s job to do what? Double-check! Fortunately for us, none of the quotes culled from the e-mails were incorrect, but the “tsk, tsk” has been noted.

One last point worthy of mentioning is that the e-mail correspondence we received from Skolnik, according to Towne, was incomplete. At the time we received the thread, we believe we had all the circulated e-mails in our possession. Regardless, our editorial in no way mischaracterized the debate or the opinions expressed by either party. But, in the spirit of full disclosure, we’ll post the entire e-mail thread – both versions – on our Web site, www.gaylesbiantimes.com, and you can be the judge.

• E-mail thread, version 1
• E-mail thread, version 2

Whew! We hope that covers everything. The Gay & Lesbian Times apologizes for any inconvenience this may have caused.

If ever we need a swat or two across the backside, please be our guest and send us a letter to the e-mail or mailing address below.

If you would like to respond to this week’s editorial, e-mail us at editor@uptownpub.com or send letters to P.O. Box 34624, San Diego, CA 92163. Please include your full name, address and phone number for verification purposes. Only your name will be published. Letters must be 500 words or less.

The Gay & Lesbian Times publishes all letters to the editor unedited. Letters received that do not contain subject matter in reference to the publication will be published at the discretion of the Gay & Lesbian Times. In the event that we receive more letters than space allows, all overflow will be posted on our Web site, www.gaylesbiantimes.com.