‘The governance and administration of the City is unduly influenced by the reportorial and editorial practices of The Carmel Pine Cone,’ CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA A GOVERNANCE REVIEW, 2014-2015 Monterey County Civil Grand Jury (MCCGJ)

The Carmel Pine Cone

The local newspaper incited a groundswell of public opinion among the residents through articles generally biased against the New Administration.

Most of the politically active residents seemed to be strongly influenced by The Carmel Pine Cone  and there was no real understanding of the difficult position the City was in following the strained economic period leading up to 2011/2012. Compliance issues, lack of adherence to City policy and the Municipal Code, and the impact of the absence of a professional Human Resources Director or management were not observable to the general public.

F15. The governance and administration of the City is unduly influenced by the reportorial and editorial practices of The Carmel Pine Cone.

SOURCE: CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA A GOVERNANCE REVIEW, 2014-2015 Monterey County Civil Grand Jury (MCCGJ)

Unfortunately, City Administrator Chip Rerig has demonstrated that he too is “unduly influenced by the reportorial and editorial practices of The Carmel Pine Cone.” Not only has City Administrator Chip Rerig shown a preference for and to The Carmel Pine Cone, but he has engaged in a disinformation campaign against the Monterey County Weekly, The Monterey County Herald and the public. To wit, in December 2016, at the time City Administrator Chip Rerig appointed Commander Paul Tomasi to the position of Chief of Police/Director of Public Safety, Rerig sent an e-mail to city employee staff stating, in part, “Lastly, I was remiss in not sending you the news of Paul's appointment to the entire staff team earlier. You should not have learned of my decision through our local media outlets, and I apologize for this oversight. My only defense is that I wanted to insure that the story was not first reported by a news group other than The Pine Cone.  I'll do better in the future.” Furthermore, Rerig noted to Carly Mayberry, Monterey Herald, that he had “conducted a national search” for police chief. However, per a public records act request, the City’s response: “The City has no responsive records pursuant to this request.”

Later, in January 2017, regarding City Attorney Don Freeman’s “retirement,” not only did City Attorney Don Freeman tell Squid’s colleague “there was nothing to it, and he wasn’t sure what games people were playing,” but both City Attorney Don Freeman and City Administrator Chip Rerig “posited that the Carmel rumormill cranked into gear after Freeman recommended (and Rerig approved) some work by an outside attorney, Glen Mozingo, on the city’s contract with the Sunset Center. Rerig, sounding frustrated, put it this way: “If our community doesn’t have drama for eight hours, there’s this need to stir the pot. It’s odd at best. And you can quote me on that.”” Then, at the City Council meeting on February 7, 2017, City Attorney Don Freeman made his “official announcement” of his retirement. On February 10, Mary Schley reported that “Don Freeman announced Tuesday night he will retire from the job before the end of the year. He will still practice law — just not for the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea… At Tuesday’s meeting, Freeman said he hasn’t set a date for departure, but that it’s time for him to go. “It is my intent to retire from the City of Carmel and let somebody else take over — it’s been awhile, and I think that’s probably a good move for the city and for myself,” he said.” Two days earlier, on February 8, 2016, Pam Marino, MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY, wrote “Carmel City Attorney Don Freeman played a version of the party game "Two Truths and a Lie" with the City Council Tuesday night, before revealing what had been an open secret for weeks: He's retiring after 33 years with the city.”

Carmel-By-The-Sea Mail - Fwd Paul Tomasi by L. A. Paterson on Scribd

Carmel-by-the-Sea Mail

From: Chip Rerig <crerig@ci.carmel.ca.us>

Date: Fri, Dec 16, 2016 at 10:07 AM
Subject: Paul Tomasi

MORE DISINFORMATION:
“He was my right arm for the first several months I was here,” Rerig says, explaining why Calhoun’s salary remained at that level.

Calhoun says he was acting as an assistant to the city administrator during those months, while he was performing his duties as police chief.

SOURCE: CalPERS looks into pay for retired Carmel police chief, Pam Marino, Feb 2, 2017, MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY

However, the City’s response to a public records act request requesting all public records demonstrating that Mike Calhoun was acting assistant city administrator between March 1, 2016 and September 1, 2016, as follows: “The City of Carmel-by-the-Sea has no responsive records pursuant to your request.”

REFERENCES:

CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA A GOVERNANCE REVIEW, 

2014-2015 Monterey County Civil Grand Jury (MCCGJ)

Carmel’s new police chief sworn in By Carly Mayberry, Monterey Herald
Posted: 12/30/16, 6:38 PM PST | Updated: on 12/30/2016

SQUID FRY 01.26.17: Private Eyes

Carmel's city attorney proves the rumors are true: He's retiring.
Pam Marino Feb 8, 2017

Freeman to retire as city attorney
By MARY SCHLEY, The Carmel Pine Cone, February 10, 2017, 3A & 26A