Journalism Standards: Part II

TIMELINE:

Sunday, 8 October 2006:
The Monterey County Herald’s publication of “Local government preserves its right to interfere,” a Guest Commentary by Lawrence Samuels.

Sunday, 8 October 2006:
A Carmel-by-the-Sea resident’s corrections (4) to the Guest Commentary by Lawrence Samuels.

Thursday, 12 October 2006
The Monterey County Herald’s publication of a “Setting it straight” Letter to the Editor by Sue McCloud.

Monday, 16 October 2006:
The Monterey County Herald’s publication of “Draconian housing laws,” by Lawrence Samuels, rebutting Mayor McCloud’s 12 October 2006 Letter to the Editor.

Wednesday, 18 October 2006:
The Monterey County Herald’s publication of “Truly Worthy,” a Letter to the Editor by Erling Lagerholm rebutting Lawrence Samuels’s original 8 October 2006 Guest Commentary.


On Erling Lagerholm’s Letter to the Editor, published 10 days after the publication of the Guest Commentary:

“The board has created no list. This was done previously without participation by the board.”

Comment: True; However, Erling Lagerholm omits the fact that the City Council members are responsible for the Carmel Inventory of Historic Resources; an Inventory which consisted of approximately 300 “historic properties” when it was submitted to the California Coastal Commission for certification in 2004.

“This represents an 82 percent "de-designation," hardly a sign that government is taking ‘bite-sized control over private property.’”

“It truly represents a careful, detailed review by the staff and board to designate historic only truly worthy properties.”

Comment: Assuming an 82% de-designation rate, or 82% of all appeals granted, what does that say about the city’s policy direction and review of the Carmel Inventory of Historic Resources prior to their submittal to the California Coastal Commission? The General Plan/Coastal Land Use Plan Land Use & Community Character Element states “The purpose of this component of the Land Use Plan is to…promote the identification and preservation of structures and sites that best represent this history.” In other words, extrapolating from Lagerholm’s logic, the Inventory of Historic Resources should have consisted of about 54 historic properties (82% of the total 300), not 300 “historic properties.” Additionally, only properties which are appealed will receive a detailed review of the evidence, or about 100 of 300. That being the case, the City’s Inventory of Historic Resources will not represent, in its entirety, “only truly worthy properties.”

On Sue McCloud’s Letter to the Editor, published 4 days after publication of the Guest Commentary and Corrections submitted to The Monterey County Herald:

If it is The Herald’s policy not to publish Corrections in the “Corrections” section of the newspaper, but rather publish “corrections” letters to the editor, then WHERE was Sue McCloud’s Letter to the Editor during the 2006 mayoral campaign correcting her age as 71, not as published repeatedly as 63? And WHERE was her Letter to the Editor correcting the city’s misinformation published at least two times that the proceeds from the sale of the Flanders Mansion Property would fund the Fire Station Seismic Retrofit Project when the monies had already been budgeted and the City was and is in litigation over the disposition of the Flanders Mansion Property?