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(s)Elections See other (s)Elections Articles Title: Executive Journal Pulls Issue Targeting Mishawaka's Mayor They called it their biggest story of the year, but now a controversial Executive Journal article that targeted Mishawaka's mayor is being boxed up and shipped back. The headline called Mayor Jeff Rea "the man who sold out Mishawaka." But now, even though the company says more than 10,000 copies of the issue have already been printed, the Executive Journal's publisher says no one will ever get to read why, because of what he calls "discrepancies" in the article. In dozens of time slots, on nearly every local channel, television advertisements have aired asking a simple question: "Did Jeff Rea sell out Mishawaka?" The claim? That Mayor Rea sold city-owned riverfront property to a developer for $1, then accepted campaign donations from the developer. Last week, Mayor Rea told WSBT the basic facts of the claim are true. Developer Bob Stephens did buy a portion of the former Uniroyal property for $1, and now has the right to develop it, but only with City Council approval. The mayor also said Stephens has given thousands of dollars to his campaign, but said the TV ads failed to mention that the same land deal was given to former Democratic council member Charles Trippel. Mishawaka's Redevelopment Commission also approved both deals. On Wednesday, the Executive Journal was slated to reveal evidence they say supported their claim that Rea "sold the city out." But now after an advertising blitz promoting what they called their "biggest story of the year," publisher Rick Singleton says it won't because of what he called "overzealous" comments made by a citizen he refused to name in a section of the article entitled "How will Mishawaka vote?" Singleton refused to elaborate, saying only that the comments "could sway people's opinions of a candidate, and are probably too overzealous to be printed." "We're not going to put out a magazine that's not 100 percent accurate or that has overzealous comments on a story this important," said Singleton. "This story is way too important for us to publish anything but pure fact." But the story was published. WSBT asked Singleton why the "comment" wasn't caught sooner. "We always have a proofing process," he responded. "But you miss things during proofing." Singleton refused to comment on whether advertisers played a role in the decision not to distribute the article, saying only that "some people loved what we were doing, and some hated it. That's politics." He did show WSBT the issue's cover, but wouldn't allow us to look at the article. He also showed us two shrink wrapped stacks of boxes that he said contained more than 10,000 printed copies of the issue. But again, we weren't allowed to look inside. Mayor Rea says he also wanted to see the article, but wasn't given a copy. He says he wouldn't have minded if it was released, because then he could have answered its charges. "Mishawaka is not for sale," he said after learning the article would not be distributed. "The mayor cannot give away property to his buddies. It's as simple as that. State law says you cannot. I think that was the insinuation of the TV ads that have been run over the past few months. And I stand behind everything I've done." And now that the article won't be released, Rea says the ads may have actually given his campaign a "surge." "Damage done? I think the question is 'to who,'" he said. "I've been absolutely overwhelmed by the support we've gotten in the community. Folks who know the truth know the mayor can't just give property away." Still, Singleton stands behind what he says are "indisputable" facts in the article. But we may never know exactly what those facts are. He says he won't re-print the issue because it would take too long. "For us to be able to make the change, get it back to the printer, and drop the magazine for distribution, it would be the day of the campaign or worse," he said. "That's not going to be fair to Jeff Rea or the administration. The bottom line is, it's my responsibility to get up every morning, look in the mirror and say 'I did the right thing.'" All the television ads for the issue have been pulled, but another one of Singleton's companies called "Studio A Advertising" is still running campaign ads for Rea's challenger Democrat Mike Hayes. And even though Rea says he isn't angry about the article, he says he does feel "taken advantage of." He says the reporter writing the Executive Journal's story lied to him four times after he repeatedly asked if he worked for the magazine, or for Singleton. He says Singleton later called to apologize. Still, Rea says he's weighing his legal options, though he says he won't pursue any type of lawsuit over the article or the ads until after Election Day.
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