NW Herald admits error re MH Board

The Northwest Herald ran an article last week, blasting the McHenry County Mental Health Board for operations and expenses.

One of the items that infuriated readers of the Northwest Herald was a report that, after the Mental Health Board paid for a doctorate for its executive director, she left and moved to Virginia, and then the Mental Health Board entered into a contract to pay her $150/hour consulting fee while it searched for a new executive director.

Today the Northwest Herald admitted an error in its story and printed this correction:

"A story on page 1 of the Thursday, Jan. 24, newspaper incorrectly gave the status of a proposed contract between the McHenry County Mental Health Board and Virginia Commonwealth University.

"The Mental Health Board voted Oct. 29, 2012, to pursue a contract with the university, subject to legal approval, to retain the consulting services of former Executive Director Sandy Lewis. The contract never came to a final agreement.

"The Northwest Herald regrets the error."

On January 24 the Northwest Herald published "The board late last year also entered into a contract with Virginia Commonwealth University, her new employer, to pay $150 an hour, not to exceed $15,000, to consult Lewis regarding finding a successor, according to a copy of the agreement obtained under FOIA."

What it had actually received was an unsigned draft of a proposed agreement. Had careful attention been given to the document received, the absence of signatures would have indicated that the Board had not entered into a contract at that time. Looking back, the Board probably should not have released a draft of a proposed legal agreement; but then they might have been accused of withholding information, even if it could have legally been denied under FOIA.

The Northwest Herald has not amended its January 24th article. A reader looking at that article now would not find the correction issued on January 30th. It should amend the article to include the correction.