©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

CHCA approves new editor of the Local
by BARBARA SHERF

Peter Mazzaccaro

The Chestnut Hill Community Association Board has approved the appointment of Peter Mazzaccaro as editor of the Chestnut Hill Local. The unanimous vote came at the board’s regular meeting, on Thursday, June 22. Mazzaccaro assumed the post Wednesday, June 28.

Mazzaccaro, 32, of Glenside, replaces Lea Sitton Stanley, who resigned, citing personal reasons. Stanley took over as editor March 15 after months of turmoil at the community weekly. She told the Local that she plans to clean a few closets, share some hours with her family and then, most likely, enter a paralegal program in the fall.

Mazzaccaro’s appointment represents a homecoming of sorts. He first joined the Local in 1998, working as a reporter, associate editor and business manager. He left in September 2004 for Philadelphia Style magazine, where he was articles editor. Mazzaccaro holds a master’s in journalism from Temple University, where in his final comprehensive exam, he analyzed the Local from the perspective of advising a competing newspaper start-up.

“I’ve always admired your writing style,” board member Carol Cope said, “but how can we best judge your performance?”

Mazzaccaro said the obvious gauge is paper sales. He added that he would also look at ways to save money at the Local.

On his editorial vision for the paper, often caught in the crossfire of community political wrangles, Mazzaccaro said, “I understand the need to balance service to the community with journalism. I’d like to see a section set aside for CHCA news, so that readers can go right to that page to find out the latest events and meeting updates.”

He also told the board that he would write editorials, in the Local tradition. Stanley, whose tenure spanned one of the most contentious board elections in CHCA history, chose not to express her opinion on the Forum page. With the community so divided, she said, she sensed that some readers clamored for editorials simply to ascertain whose side she was on. Her decision was not well received, in any quarter.

Board members also wanted to know Mazzaccaro’s plan for avoiding libel suits. He said he had taken a number of law and ethics courses, and that there is “a pretty distinct line regarding what can and cannot be published. You have to use good judgment.”

After approving Mazzaccaro, the CHCA board spent more than an hour debating whether to form a committee of former newspaper people to advise him on refining job descriptions and increasing circulation.

“We all know that the Local is still unstable, and we hope this provides stability,” said CHCA President Ron Recko, who introduced the concept. But several board members voiced opposition.

“We’ve just given Peter a big job with a lot of responsibility and I’d like for us to … let him run his own ship,” Cope said.

Ed Feldman said he saw the committee as “a one-way valve. When Peter needed help, he can call on them. I don’t think we will call on Peter.”

Jeremy Heep asked repeatedly that the board table the proposal until it had a description of what the committee could and couldn’t do.

“Let Peter start his job and come back to us to say, ‘These are the areas in which I need help,’ ” Ann McNally said.

The board agreed to table the proposal for a month.