It's time to bury the hatchet in rack card imbroglio

The campaign yard signs are coming down.

The relentless attack, and counterattack, advertising on the radio and television stations has gone blessfully quiet.

It's time to get down to business.

It's time to move past campaigning and into governing. It's also time for elected officials to get along and bury the proverbial hatchet.

I want to go first.

During the heat of the campaign, I accused candidate Lewis Rich of stealing, or asking others to steal, rack cards from the Daily Bee racks. Mr. Rich admitted to asking managers of certain businesses to remove the cards from the Daily Bee property, that much is not in dispute.

What is in dispute, is the fact that I accused Mr. Rich of stealing the cards himself. I based that accusation on a report from a local restaurant owner who walked past a man stealing one of our cards. A man who matched Lewis Rich's description. I filed a police report based on that description.

Upon talking with the witness, I am not sure Mr. Rich did what I accused him of. In fact, the more I have heard from Rich's legions of friends, as well as his Mom and letting my own common sense filter in, convinces me that he didn't steal my cards.

I apologize and retract that accusation on behalf of myself and the Bee.

This apology and is given in the spirit of all of us moving forward for the betterment of the county.

I'm also glad those loud TV ads have gone away.

David Keyes is the publisher of the Daily Bee