Clarification on "Jake's Take" of Oct. 25

Sometimes, an editor can go just a little too far. My editorial style tends more towards the sledgehammer than the scalpel.

I took a wrong swing in my “Jake’s Take” of Oct. 25. There are several good men in the Statesboro City Council election this year, several people who I have known for years, and some that I am just getting to know.

In the Oct. 25 column, I outright said that John Morris looked like he was intimidating young voters.

After speaking with Morris, however, I don’t think that’s the case. He got some information last week about how registering to vote could affect students’ and their parents’ taxes and financial aid status, and wanted to get that out to the voters as an FYI.

According to GSU’s financial aid office and IRS officials, voter registration doesn’t affect either. When told about that, Morris did the right thing, and didn’t put the erroneous information out there.

Let me emphasize that — he did the right thing. And I, in a misstep, made him look bad for doing it. After speaking further with the candidate, I believe that he wasn’t trying to scare anyone from the polls.

I got too close, I used poor judgment, and I shouldn’t have pulled the candidate’s name into it.

So John Morris, I apologize for my remarks last week. As contentious as this election is, we can all agree on one thing — all of the voters need timely, accurate information so they can make good decisions.