Michele Anna Jordan asked me to post the following note:
"For several years, I did a Tuesday morning segment called “Krush Bites” with KRSH-FM morning host Doug Smith, until he died in a motorcycle accident in June of 2005. I continued doing the segment with Pam Long, who replaced Doug. When Pam left, Bites didn’t work so well with her replacement so I discontinued it.
I was not paid for this, though early on, when the segment was 15 minutes long and I drove to the station, I was given some trade. When it was shortened to 2 minutes, I called in and we chatted by phone.
In 2010, the new morning host Brian Griffith, asked me to revive Bites. I said sure but he insisted I come in, not do the segment by phone. Driving 20 to 25 minutes to a radio station (to talk for just 2 minutes) is expensive and so I said that if I came in, I needed to be paid, at least enough to cover gas. I added that I wanted to anchor the segment with the Santa Rosa Farmers Market, rather than just making it about seasonal produce, as it had been. The philosophy of the show was “shop at your local farmers market first, before you go to the supermarket.” I chose the Santa Rosa market because the station is based in Santa Rosa. We talked about all local farmers markets.
Several months passed and then Stefanie Garzoli, a sales exec at the station, called to say the Santa Rosa market was going to sponsor the show. She offered me $100 a week plus $20 (twenty) in market bucks. I was paid by a check from Wine Country Radio and was handed market bucks on Wednesdays by Paula. When the market’s contact expired after six months, I was offered market bucks but declined, saying my agreement was with the station, not the market. Bites was put on hold in February and then canceled after the attacks on me began, as the station was worried that they would increase should the segment be revived. Thus, I lost the only paid radio gig I’ve ever had.
At some point, Nancy got market records and one included a typo, that I was being given $200 a week in market bucks. It should have read $20. It was easy to verify, as my name was handwritten by the manager across any market buck I received. But she used this typo in her attempt to harm me professionally.
I should add that the market offered a donation to help support my daughter, who, after having had cancer, was going through another medical crisis that, luckily, turned out not to be cancer, though we didn’t know for several months. The check was made out to me and used exclusively for my daughter's benefit. Nancy used this to “prove” her accusations, even though she knew exactly what the check was for, as she and her sister received a similar donation from the market when their parents died.
Part of Nancy’s claim has been that I am paid by the Santa Rosa market to write about their vendors and their vendors only, a claim that can be proven false simply by opening the paper on any given Wednesday.
This is all so sad. Here we are in one of the most fertile regions of the entire world, with a glorious year round harvest, dedicated farmers and ranchers, robust farmers markets, wonderful wines and wineries, vibrant art and music communities and a thriving daily newspaper. I wake up feeling lucky every day that I have such a great way to connect with readers. Let’s let winter storms blow away all this unnecessary negativity."
Paula Downing asked me to post the following note:
"As most of you know, I was the Santa Rosa Market Manager during this period. To the best of my knowledge Nancy's allegation that the Santa Rosa Market gave Michele Jordan cash for her work is completely false. We were under contract with KRUSH radio for her to do a live radio spot every week. Part of that contract involved an expense allowance (a common and perfectly acceptable business practice) to purchase the food that she talked about on the radio. I gave Michele her expense allowance in the form of market bucks at the market each week.
It appears to me that Nancy has doctored the board records. This is a serious legal allegation and I intend to advise the Santa Rosa board immediately that Nancy is responsible for either theft or falsification of corporate records - or both.
It also appears to me that WACCO is in the middle of a vendetta that endangers you legally. That is to say, during this entire discussion Nancy has consistently presented kernels of truth which are embellished and perverted by false statements and accusations that are driven by her apparently bottomless rage. I would hope and suggest that you stop this conversation entirely. It doesn't really serve the truth nor the farmers nor the people whose character Nancy is maligning or Nancy herself.
Finally, I haven't wanted to engage in this WACCO conversation but I feel the need to speak now in order to support Michele Jordan. For Nancy to tell lies in a public forum in order to harm me is one thing. For her to tell lies in public forum in order to harm Michele Jordan who has given the most consistent, loving, caring heartfelt service to all the farmers and farmers markets in this county for decades, is intolerable. Look at Michele's record. It is impeccable. Her integrity is impeccable. She provides fair, equitable and consistently supportive reporting about all farmers and farmers markets.
Enough is enough, Barry."
I think Paula's advice to prevent this issue from going forward is well founded and is in the best interest of all involved (including me!). Other users have either asked me to stop it or removed themselves from this thread. I think this puts a suitable cap on this conversation.
I have given Nancy ample space to present her point of view (to the point of redundancy) and her posts will remain on the site. I tried to draw a line that would allow her to post non-negative posts but that didn't work. I will not accept any further posts from her regarding this matter. If she wants to post about anything else (such as posting about her market) she will need to clear it with me first and I'm sure we can work something out. I also request other users to not post anything further regarding Nancy, either positive or negative. Nancy is welcome to offer gratitude as she see's fit and reply privately (unless I get complaints about that).
Please note that whenever you use the Reply Privately you are disclosing your email address to the recipient. Similarly if you reply to a note sent via Reply Privately, you are also disclosing your email address. So if should ever receive a private note that you feel is inappropriate please forward it to me and I'll handle it.
Before any of you start screaming "freedom of speech" let me remind you that doesn't apply here and again the issue has been explored more here than in any other media. If you insist on bringing up that or related issues, please start a new thread.
There is still the conversation of what will happen with the farmer's market at The Barlow which is valid and important and I think can be carried out civilly. Let's continue to use this thread for that purpose.