Yes, we endorsed three candidates who were running as a slate, but we endorsed them as individuals rather than a slate—and said so in our endorsement—because we believed, after extensive research and analysis, that they were the strongest candidates.

It's clear from rumblings we've heard about our endorsement that we aren't the only ones who find the concept of a slate offensive. We've been accused, for instance, of sending out a campaign piece touting our endorsement of the "slate." We did no such thing.

But it's easy to see how a reader might be misled. The campaign piece featured the Saratoga News logo over a headline that said "ENDORSES—Streit, King and Kline For Saratoga City Council" and a photograph of candidates Nick Streit, Kathleen King and Norman Kline standing behind the Heritage Orchard sign, their arms resting across its top.

The reverse side featured our logo and our entire endorsement statement.

It is not uncommon for a candidate to list a newspaper endorsement in a paid ad or a piece of campaign literature, of course. But this particular campaign piece, by using our logo combined with a photograph of the three slate candidates standing at the Heritage Orchard sign, suggested that we were actually "campaigning" for these candidates. We were not "campaigning" for these candidates.

Another protestor accused us of endorsing the slate because it was the "easy way out." Nothing could be further from the truth. If we had wanted to take the easy way out, we would have endorsed the three candidates who were not running as a slate. That's how strongly we feel about slates.

We were not inclined, however, to take the easy way out. That's why our reporters interviewed each candidate individually and why our editor and reporters attended every candidate forum, except one that was held too late for our deadines. Early in the campaign, we invited—through a confirmation phone call and follow-up letter—each candidate to attend an endorsement meeting late in the campaign at the headquarters office of Silicon Valley Community Newspapers, publisher of the Saratoga News.

In addition to the candidates, the meeting was attended by Saratoga News editor Dick Sparrer, Kate Carter, the paper's government reporter at the time, David Cohen, publisher of Silicon Valley Community Newspapers, and myself. Each candidate was given an opportunity to answer questions within a timed period, and each had an opportunity to answer first.

Following that one-hour session, we four staff members met to decide who the paper should endorse. Earlier this year, we, as a company, had developed a mission statement, and in reaching our decision on who to endorse in Saratoga, we paid particular attention to these words from our statement: "When we take editorial positions or endorse candidates, we use as our philosophical compass the following guiding principals: We support smart growth, economic vitality, historic preservation, inclusiveness, environmentally sound planning, quality education, open government and the arts."

When we endorse candidates, we hope readers understand that our goal is nothing more than to offer an educated opinion. We are a part of the community, and we pay careful attention to the workings of local government. That's why we believe we have a responsibility to take positions on issues and to endorse candidates. We take the responsibility seriously. We do not take the easy way out, and we do not campaign for candidates. We simply state that in our considered opinion certain candidates are more qualified. We offer it as our position, and we put it on our opinion pages, where we also welcome diverse commentary from our readers. Our objective is to further the discussion, to make our opinion pages a place where everyone in the community can participate in a community dialogue.

Dale Bryant is the executive editor of Silicon Valley
Community Newspapers.