“I don’t have anything to say at the present time.”

That is what Everett Leader Herald publisher/editor Josh Resnek told the Boston Herald Sunday when we called for his comment on his paper’s $1.1 million settlement with Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria. We called before we broke the story. We sought his side.

He failed to do the same with DeMaria.

DeMaria’s long-running defamation lawsuit against the Leader Herald is now over. The settlement is sealed. The weekly paper, established in 1885, now ends its run tomorrow — and that’s a shame.

We live in a litigious society and a polarizing political climate, but there’s enough truth to go around to fill the pages of any paper. That’s what readers demand. The Everett Leader Herald failed in that honored mission.

The local weekly has eroded our craft — and worse — made Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria fight to regain his good name. That’s what is important today as news of the settlement spreads. DeMaria can hold his head high.

We’ve sat down with DeMaria over the past few years and have witnessed the pain this case caused. But he never quit on himself or his family. Others doubted him and that’s the fault of the Everett Leader Herald.

We called Resnek Sunday before we published hoping he’d elaborate. He declined. The $1.1 million settlement makes it perfectly clear he didn’t reciprocate when it came to DeMaria.

Resnek was surprised to learn the settlement was out, but gave a quick no comment. Journalists burn up the phone lines and hit the road seeking every side to a story. If someone opts to remain quiet, that’s fine. It’s all about giving everyone the opportunity to talk … if they want to.

Nobody is perfect. But we keep on trying to dig for the truth while being respectful of those we cover.

Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria would rather talk to you about his plans and the new stadium he’d like to build to erase an eyesore in the city. He has never shied away from any subject. He’s a smart man who has been elected to defend taxpayers.

We won’t repeat the sins of the Everett Leader Herald. If we have a question he gave us his number. What we will do is try to fill the gap in news being left behind because someone else didn’t embrace all that’s good about journalism.

We printed the news of the settlement Sunday afternoon for one reason — to spread the word as quickly as possible that Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria is not the man the Everett Leader Herald made him out to be.

You can quote us on that.