This morning I had the extreme displeasure of sitting next to Mike Marturello at a Steuben County Commissioners meeting. He sat next to two old men that I could only liken to the Hecklers on the Muppet Show. I could see that they had no actual business at the meeting except to voice their derogatory opinions on every topic that came up. That's fine, I guess, but it was supremely distracting for the rest of us in attendance. What isn't right is that your employee, Mike Marturello, would join in with them, oftentimes referring to people as "assholes," when they got up to speak or were brought up. One county employee was referred to as a "lazy, overpaid asshole." When the topic came up that I was interested in, they kept it up. Asshole was muttered again, and the Hecklers proceeded to call the County home a "money pit" and "shit hole."
I told them that was enough, they needed to shut up, and your employee, Mike Marturello, said, "No, you need to shut up." I told him, "As a reporter, you shouldn't be sitting here calling everyone 'Asshole.'"
I then changed seats before I completely lost my temper. You see, for a brief period of time, I wrote for the Angola Evening Star as a full-time reporter covering police action, court proceedings and county government. I knew, didn't have to be told, that I was there to observe, not interject myself into the story, and only speak to people in attendance if I was in fact interviewing them. Now with his college degree, you'd think Mr. Marturello would know that. I did, and I'm self taught. I'm sure you don't care about this. I'm sure you won't do a thing, except maybe show this email to Mr. Marturello and get a good laugh.
But here's the thing - I don't like being told to shut up. I don't shut up when told to by the likes of him. And I'm going to tell everyone what happened, especially all the people he called "assholes."
The Herald-Republican has really hit an all-time low. Amy Oberlin? Nice person. Jennifer Decker? Really awful writer. Mike Marturello? Obviously a bitter, disrespectful individual who's lacking in talent and manners. I think the people of Steuben County should maybe just let the Herald sit. Look at it for free at the gas station or the library. They certainly shouldn't plunk down their hard-earned cash for something put together by him.
Thanks for listening, Melanie M. Varner
