Press Lord

If the Waitsburg Times town hall reporter has a question for high city officials, he does not have to take "No comment" for an answer: the reporter is Tom Baker, 53, who happens to be the mayor. Baker is also the publisher of the Times, which is the sole newspaper in Waitsburg (pop. 1,035), located in southeastern Washington. Townsfolk are neither impressed nor worried by the unusual situation. Says Banker Ken Miller: "It's easy for Tom. His newspaper is only two doors down from town hall." Explains Wheat Farmer Howard Smith: "It was his turn to be mayor."

Waitsburg does not get easily riled. The town has one policeman and virtually no crime. Only 13% of the voters went to the polls in the last election; all of the town's councilmen have run unopposed for office since 1965. The mayor never gets any unfavorable publicity; the only other Waitsburg Times staff reporter is his son. And his name is Loyal.

That is the way Publisher and Mayor Baker likes things: "I'm like the guy in the old joke, the guy who said he only made one mistake in his life: for one brief second, he thought he was wrong." This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.