To the Editor:

First I want you to know that I am not a friend of Sindi Saita, owner of Apropros Prom & Bridal. I know her only because, in the past, I purchased two gowns from her for my daughter. I am writing because I was and am surprised about the extensive coverage your publication has given to her business dealings.

To be honest, my first thought after reading your first article months back, was: What the heck did this woman do to piss off your staff writer or your paper? It wasn’t like she was being accused of any criminal acts! I wondered why your paper/writer didn’t reach out to people like me who were very pleased with our experiences with Apropros and include that in your article.

The two times I purchased expensive gowns for my daughter, Sindi, although very busy, made the time to talk to me and my daughter. I found her to be very thoughtful, kind, and professional. My daughter looked so beautiful in the gowns we purchased for prom and a United States Marine Corps military ball!

I am not suggesting that those who had problems with her business didn’t have the right to express their displeasure, just a bit confused on why so much of your column space was dedicated to, as far as I could tell, destroying the reputation of Sindi and her business.  

Months later, I was saddened to see that her business was closed. Right away, I thought: Well, of course, such negative coverage of some dissatisfied customers is probably the reason she had to close up shop! It wouldn’t be a far stretch to assume such extensive and negative coverage of her business could be a (vast) part of the reason she was experiencing such difficulty in paying her lease/employees/ bills!

In closing, I am wondering what was the motivation of your staff and paper to publish these articles!  You and your paper have tremendous power of influence over the public. As for me, I am going to read it, but remain skeptical about what the the goal of your articles were — were they to inform or influence? Pardon me, but I think the latter!

If you publish this, I look forward to you “editor’s note” defending your paper’s actions with regards to your publications! Having said all this, for me, the positive take-away is that I learned that Sindi is still in business, but at a different location! I am looking forward to contacting her when my two daughters get married! I know she will help my daughters find the perfect gowns for their special occasions.

Catherine Cunningham

Voorheesville

Editor’s note: Since Sindi Saita is a town official, serving on Guilderland’s zoning board, and there are court judgments seeking to have her town wages garnished, we consider the story of her finances to be a matter of public interest. We strive always to be thorough and accurately tell all sides of a story. In our May 18, 2017 story, “Customers complain Apropos is too slow with gowns, owner says no,” we quoted Saita at length, answering the concerns some customers had raised and also quoted town officials, including the supervisor who called her a “stellar” zoning board member. In our June 21, 2018 story, “Zoning board’s Saita fails to pay two court judgments against her,” Saita referred our questions to her lawyer, who spoke in her stead. Her seamstress claims Saita was always behind in her payments after moving the shop to Guilderland — which was long before our first story ran. We first wrote about Saita and the evolution of her business on Jan. 8, 2014 when she was appointed to the zoning board. Her shop was also featured prominently in a feature on prom dresses. When many people contact our news office and rumors are rife, we believe it is important to present the facts.