Editor’s Note:
We published an article in the Gary Crusader Newspaper on May 19, 2017 titled, “Candidate scrambles to protect his good name.” It was an interview with Michael A. Brown, Lake County Clerk in Indiana.
This is Lake County Clerk Michael A. Brown.
Brown wanted to make sure the public got it right when it came to his name because another public official with a similar name was the subject of a sexual harassment lawsuit.
Well, we made the mistake that we didn’t want anyone else to make. In the Saturday, October 20, 2018 issue of the Gary Crusader Newspaper we published an item in the “Nosing Around” gossip column titled, “Something To Remember Him By.” Although the column is preceded by an Editor’s Note which includes a disclaimer asking readers to regard the content as just “gossip,” identifying the wrong person as the subject of the gossip is not something we take lightly.
In the column we made several mistakes.
First, we inadvertently used the wrong photograph for the Lake County Recorder Mike Brown (Michael B. Brown). Michael B. Brown is the defendant in a civil suit for sexual harassment that was recently settled by Lake County in the amount of $185,000. This is the photograph that should have appeared with the column.
Secondly, we erroneously associated the tenure of the current Lake County Clerk – Mike Brown (Michael A. Brown) with that of the Lake County Recorder Mike Brown (Michael B. Brown). While it is true Clerk Brown will be leaving the Clerk’s position because of term limits at the end of the year, Recorder Brown’s term in office does not end until 2020.
As Michael A. Brown said in the May 19, 2017 online article, “My family taught me good values and to protect the name that I’ve been given.” The Gary Crusader Newspaper is deeply saddened by our mistake and we regret it. We failed Mr. Brown, who trusted us with his original concerns for his identity. For that we apologize to Michael A. Brown (Lake County Clerk), to Lake County Indiana and to Mr. Brown’s family.