Sometimes you see a news story that makes you happy… sometimes you see one that makes you sad,… and sometimes you see a story that makes your head tilt quizzically to the side.

The mayor of West Valley City, Utah recently admitted to writing positive stories about his town in local newspapers, under a fake name.

Michael Winder AKA”Richard Burwash”  said he started writing the articles to “try to restore balance.”

Mild mannered Michael Winder claims he was simply going about his days as mayor while his alter-ego Richard Burwash was bravely battling the forces of injustice (in the news). Whether or not he wore spandex and a cape while reporting these stories is still unconfirmed.

Winder argues that all the stories he published were true and fact-checkable. But the idea of an elected official going undercover to influence the news seems just a tad . . . yucky.

And yet his intentions seem almost noble. The Desert News says that it does not have the staff or the resources to report on local issues so this is where the Mayor picked up the slack:

‘I care deeply about having news stories about my community beyond what the crime desk churns out, since there is a negative reputation we are working hard to turn around,’ Winder told The Salt Lake Tribune. ‘In a three-month period, 16 percent of Salt Lake Tribune stories that mentioned West Valley City were about crime, but 56 percent of Deseret News stories about my city were about crime.’

What do you think. is this guy the Batman of city government or just someone trying to get his approval ratings up?