Nordin didn't listen

Thanks for speaking to me by telephone last week. My assistant showed me the article by Barbara Nordin on a complaint by Ron and Sharon Soltau. As one might expect from a heading such as "Fearless Consumer," the article is strongly biased in favor of Soltau.

Nordin did not check Soltau's statements for accuracy, so his misleading statements go unchallenged. Also, she omits much of what my assistant and I said to her. I did in fact answer her questions calmly and completely, by telephone and email, so her description of my response is inaccurate. Her last sentence, in particular is false. As a matter of fact, in the course of our conversation, Nordin became heated and abusive, which struck me as poor behavior for a journalist.

My assistant and I met with Ron and Sharon Soltau several times, visited the site with them, copied their sketches and site plan, obtained the architectural guidelines from Wintergreen, drew several sketches, took notes of our conversations, and revised the sketches. We gave them prints of all the sketches and revisions along the way. The Soltaus gave their verbal approval several times to what we were doing. Toward the end of the design phase, the Soltaus changed their minds on several important points. Because they had asked for a guaranteed maximum fee, it was impossible for us to continue working on their project.

The Soltaus apparently said that they hired another architect, and that their construction drawings have been approved by Wintergreen. So why do they continue to complain? Is it because Nordin's column provides an outlet for spurious accusations? Does your newspaper thrive on conflict and dispute, at the expense of private individuals and businesses?

Robert Boucheron
Charlottesville

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