First, I want to say that I'm not going to be a jerk and write one of those non-apology apologies you see all the time. Though the genesis of this note was a letter from the Jim Owles Club's lawyer, this is a real apology.

I published an article earlier this week that was, to the best of my knowledge at the time, factually accurate. But I was wrong. Specifically, I said that the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club was not a registered political action committee and made further statements stemming from that factual inaccuracy.

I've since been corrected, so it's my responsibility to set the record straight. The Jim Owles Club has informed me that it is a registered political entity in the City of New York. Though it stays relatively private, it properly discloses its financial activity, including fundraising and expenditures, to the City. Further, it does support some candidates via endorsements and ads, as well as stage protests and promote nightlife in the city.

I have asked them to verify this via documentation, but in the meantime I take them at their word, because as you'll see below, my notes were incomplete. 

It's my responsibility to get things right on CitizeNYC, and moreover, get things right as a member of the community. In this case, I failed at that, and I am truthfully sorry to those who got the wrong impression about the Jim Owles Club as a result of my piece. I will correct the piece online, and prominently post links to this apology to make up for the error.

In the spirit of transparency, I'll tell you how the error occurred, though I'm not using that as an excuse. I've been researching the Jim Owles Club for a few months now, and my notes on its status as a legal entity said "can't find info." When I went to write my piece, I misinterpreted that as meaning that the records don't exist, when in fact it meant I hadn't located them. That's my error as a writer, and it's a big one.

Additionally, they have asked that I clarify Ryan Davis's role in producing the piece, which is easy. Though Davis was quoted in the article, he had no formal role in the production and fact-check. The Jim Owles Club has since sent me materials indicating that one of Mr. Davis's quotes was inaccurate; it was printed because the information matched my incorrect notes, which clearly compounded the error. 

Finally, the Jim Owles Club has said that I didn't give Allen Roskoff a proper opportunity to respond to the piece. I emailed Mr. Roskoff, and he insisted on phone interviews, which my schedule could not accomodate (keep in mind that this site is a hobby). I followed up and asked if he would answer questions via email. I frankly don't know if that was enough, but that's what happened.

Though we may disagree on many things, I would never have knowingly printed factually incorrect statements regarding the club or its operations. So I offer my sincere apology to the board and members of the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club.