Our commitment: Make information about Hartwick elections and local government accessible, verifiable, and clearly distinguished from opinion.

Hartwick Election Facts is an independently operated civic information website. It is not an official Town of Hartwick publication and is not operated by a candidate’s campaign. Our goal is to help residents examine the evidence and form their own judgments.

1. What We Publish

We collect and explain public records, election information, local-government decisions, and reporting relevant to Hartwick. We may also publish original explainers and fact-checks. We distinguish among official records, third-party journalism, public statements, analysis, and opinion so readers know what kind of information they are seeing.

2. Sources and Verification

• We favor primary sources where available: official meeting agendas and minutes, budgets, election notices, laws, public filings, and recorded statements.
• We identify the original source of material claims and provide direct links to documents or reporting whenever practical.
• We verify dates, quotations, numerical claims, and context before presenting a claim as established fact.
• We distinguish verified facts from allegations, interpretations, and unresolved questions. If evidence is incomplete, we say so.
• When we link to journalism from outlets such as AllOtsego or The Daily Star, we credit the publisher and link to the original reporting. A link does not mean we independently verified every claim in that article.

3. How We Evaluate Claims

A fact-check should quote or accurately paraphrase the specific claim, identify when and where it was made, present relevant evidence, and explain what the evidence supports or does not support. We consider context and meaningful counterevidence, and we avoid reducing genuinely complex or disputed questions to oversimplified labels.

4. Editorial Independence and Conflicts of Interest

Editorial decisions belong to the people responsible for this site, not to town officials, political parties, or candidates. Contributors may hold personal political views or participate in community and political activities. A relevant relationship with a candidate, campaign, or organization must be disclosed to the editors and, when material to an article, to readers. Contributors should not make the final editorial decision on coverage involving a campaign or candidate with whom they are actively working.

We do not present campaign-created material as independent reporting. If we publish commentary or endorsements in the future, they will be clearly labeled and evaluated separately for any applicable disclosure requirements.

5. Fairness, Privacy, and Respect

We seek to describe people and their positions accurately, including when examining decisions or statements we question. When publishing significant criticism, we will make a reasonable effort to seek relevant context or a response when appropriate. We avoid unnecessary publication of private personal information and exercise particular care with documents that may contain sensitive information.

6. Corrections and Updates

Accuracy matters more than defending a previous version. If we discover a material factual error, we will correct it promptly after verification. For meaningful corrections, we will add a dated note describing what changed; for substantive updates, we will distinguish new information from the original publication. Minor spelling or formatting edits may be made without a separate notice.

Readers are welcome to challenge a claim, supply a document, or request a correction. Please identify the page, the statement at issue, and the evidence supporting the request. We review submissions on their merits and will not remove accurate, relevant information solely because someone disagrees with it.

7. Attribution and Use of Others’ Work

We respect copyright and the work of local journalists. Our default approach is to link to original reporting and quote only brief excerpts with attribution rather than reproduce full articles, images, or documents without appropriate rights.

8. Contact Us

To request a correction or dispute a factual claim, email corrections@hartwickelectionfacts.org. Include the page link, the statement in question, and any evidence you would like us to review. For general inquiries, article submissions, or story suggestions, visit our Contact & Submit Information page.

These standards may be refined as the publication grows. Material changes to our editorial policies will be dated and explained on this page.