Several people, particularly Commissioner Kevin Stufflebean, believe the circumstances of his bankruptcy are a personal matter and not a news item. Stufflebean made his bankruptcy a public issue when he repeated apparently false claims to the news media. Previously, I criticized The World for not reporting on the glaring factual discrepancies from Stufflebean’s own mouth with respect to the bankruptcy (and the firing of 22 county road workers). The news is not Stufflebean’s bankruptcy, the news is that an elected official may have lied to the public he serves. That is news. That is big news!!!

Today, The World has done some fine investigative reporting and correctly informed the public that an elected official may be playing fast and loose with the truth.

Coos County Commissioner Kevin Stufflebean’s public explanation of his recent bankruptcy filing contains factual discrepancies, The World has learned.

In July, Stufflebean and his wife filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection in federal court in Eugene. In a subsequent interview with Eugene’s The Register-Guard newspaper, Stufflebean mentioned five factors contributing to his financial wreckage.

Information available from public records, however, raises questions about each of the five factors. Stufflebean has defended his statements in recent interviews and e-mails to The World, but he has provided neither full details nor any documents to support his contentions.

The World staff writer, Meghan Walsh did an excellent job of investigating this matter. Right on!!! This is what newspapers are supposed to do.