Oblivious to Reality

In a recent Monterey County Herald Letter to the Editor, Burr Schinner of Carmel wrote that as an “outsider” he hopes the “good people of Pacific Grove will hold their elected officials to a higher standard” given his opinion that the Pacific Grove City Council has become “the laughingstock of Monterey County.”

While it is unclear from Mr. Schinner’s letter whether his opinion of the Pacific Grove City Council is based on his attending their City Council meetings, listening to their meetings on T.V. or reading about them in The Monterey County Herald, it is puzzling that Mr. Schinner of “Carmel” would castigate the Pacific Grove City Council when there is a plethora of evidence to suggest that the people of Carmel-by-the-Sea should hold their elected officials to a higher standard.

In their so-called reporting, The Monterey County Herald has a long record under Publisher Jayne Speizer and Executive Editor Carolina Garcia of catering to Carmel-by-the-Sea Mayor Sue McCloud and the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea by censuring negative news about the City and hyping ordinary news.

Examples include:

• No coverage in over 2 years of the Police Officers and LIUNA Local 270 working without a contract. LIUNA Local 270 and the Police Officer Associations became so frustrated with the City’s bad faith negotiations last contract time that they published an ad in The Carmel Pine Cone explaining their frustration and disgust with the City’s actions in the hope of informing the public.

• No coverage of the 2005 Monterey County Civil Grand Jury Report on Open Government with their focus on the numerous complaints from individuals associated with Carmel-by-the-Sea. And the City Attorney’s submission of a fraudulent letter in response to the Grand Jury Findings and Recommendations.

• Advocacy coverage for the City on the installation of Sunset Cultural Center, Inc. and sale of the Flanders Mansion property. One reporter, in refusing to publish a correction, admitted he was an advocate of the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea.

• Numerous inaccurate articles on Carmel-by-the-Sea, including the City’s propaganda that the proceeds from the sale of the Flanders Mansion Property would fund the seismic retrofit of the Carmel Fire Station; age of Mayor McCloud as 63, instead of 71 during pre-election coverage; Flanders Mansion is adjacent to Mission Trail Nature Preserve, instead of located geographically and physically inside the Preserve/Park.

• No coverage on the City Council’s violation of the Local Coastal Program; that is, the City’s removal of 43 post-1940 historic properties from the Inventory of Historic Resources; the City’s refusal to hold a Mills Act Workshop and place on city council agendas Mills Act Contracts for Mills Act Contract applicants; the City’s failure to record Inventory properties with the county; the City’s misuse of methodology for determining historic property status, etc.

As for City Council meetings, it is evident that the Mayor and City Council Members would benefit from training on Robert’s Rules of Order, the Ralph M. Brown Act, etc. Moreover, this City Council’s choice of agenda items, deliberations on items and inconsistent policy-making all qualify the City for “laughingstock” status.

Lastly, if people like Burr Schinner of “Carmel” castigate other cities without first holding their own local elected officials responsible for their conduct, then the danger is obvious; that is, people who believe the Carmel-by-the-Sea City Council’s and The Monterey County Herald’s Carmel-by-the-Sea propaganda and spin are oblivious to reality and therefore can never hold their elected officials to a higher standard.