Earlier today I promised two new Mission Viejo stories. The following being the latest and last.
Not too long ago the OC Register hired a new reporter named Lindsey Bagulo, to cover stories relating to the city of Mission Viejo.
Ms. Bagulo recently provided an overview of two local blogs and citizen activism in a new series. My sense is that this series was triggered by a resident who found numerous easels dumped down a hill behind a shopping center. That story was picked up by the blog editors which were included in her series.
In my hands I have a copy of an email sent from MV City Manager Dennis Wilberg (see picture above) to the new Register reporter which reads as follows:
“Thank you for the opportunity to provide input for your assignment. In our last exchange a few weeks ago I stated that I believe it is important to have an open dialogue when discussing/reporting on an issue so again thank you for contacting us. I also stated that I felt it was our mutual goal to provide a fair and accurate representation of both sides of an issue. With this as a background, I would once again request…please, please, please, please…that you contact members of the community who are actually involved in the numerous events that take place in the city…those who volunteer to help out at the events, and those that attend the events. By doing so you will be able to get a balanced perspective and more accurate and broad based representation of what the views of the residents and businesses of the community are on the topic. As it appears at the moment, you are only setting things up to be a handful of residents who have a specific agenda against the views of “City Officials.” Hearing from a greater cross section of the community would certainly provide for a more fair and accurate representation of both sides of the issue and it would be more interesting. It would also be a benefit to all of us at the City as we are always trying to get feedback from the community as a whole and not just a few “activist” (though we do in fact appreciate and listen to their views).
So once again let me provide some suggestions of people you should try to contact.”
I wonder if President Bush sent a similar email to the heads of MSNBC, CNN or NBC.
Without listing “Dennis’s suggestions,” he goes on to provide names of 30 people in the city, yet excludes many others who have lived here upwards of 35 years and know the history and where the bodies are buried. While our “helpful” city manager provided these 30 names he failed to include some of the most long time, politically/policy knowledgeable residents of Mission Viejo. No, not myself (although I would qualify). Current residents such as former City Manager Dan Joseph, former Mayors Butterfield, Craycraft and Withrow; Neil Lonsinger and Richard Schweinberg each of who recently served as Chairman of our Planning Commission.
Talk about trying to “sway” or control the local media.
A side bar. Many years ago we even threatened to cut off our city ads and announcements due to the local newspaper publishing hard hitting stories written by local activists.
Later in his lengthy email the city manager goes on to say that “we live in a free country and we all have the right to free speech including blogging.”
Thank you Dennis. Those of us who are bloggers know our First Amendment rights.
Gilbert comment. Ms. Bagulo’s short series, covering local bloggers, was a first by the local Register. I commend her for giving some of our residents an opportunity to express some of the issues which their readers bring to their attention. City staff and some council members in just about every city are troubled by bloggers as they cannot control our content. Generation “Y”, also known as the Millennium Generation, is very skilled in using the Internet. For many the Net is the main source of news that they access.
It is still the responsibility of the reader to “trust but verify” the data which they read.
Juice readers. What’s your take on this story?
You might recall a prior post in which Mr. Rattay told his supervisors to immediately notify upper management if a member of the city council starts asking questions. What does this say about Mission Viejo?
The city manager is simply asking a reporter to present the whole story, and obtain input from everyone in the community, not just a handful of gladflys with too much free time on their hands. Gladflys have the habit of making mountains out of mole hills and their weird conspiracy theories sell newspapers. That’s the only reason why reporters pay attention to you. People love a good train wreck!
I hope everyone saw letters in Saddleback Valley News for the past two Fridays with lavish praise for city staff and council members. Were those not setups by city hall staffers? One would have to look far and wide to find two such naive residents who are so absolutely thrilled that their tax dollars were thrown away. The city manager would like to overlook that he’s getting honest feedback when he hears from the activists. I’ll take with a grain of salt what 30 Kool-Aid drinkers have to say in a city of nearly 100,000 residents, particularly when they don’t have the gumption to write a letter without being asked to do so.
If those in city hall would try being honest for a change, activists could take the day off. Dennis is a nice guy, but he doesn’t run a tight ship.
Lindsey Baguio’s stories have been refreshing, balanced, factual, interesting and very well written. She’s an asset to the OC Register.
Hector.
Those of us who live in this city, who worked to elect all five members of this city council, are not creating train wrecks. We live with the outcome.
Larry – this is just smart media relations on the part of the ciy manager. Being helpful to a reporter is not unethical or untoward. The reporter also has editors who can steer her to the opposing viewpoints.
As far as Bush goes, the Bush press people used threats of cutting off access if they didn’t get the kind of coverage they wanted. This is how Jeff Gannon, a gay male prostitute, was able to get into White House briefings to ask the President Softball questions under the title of senior editor for Talon News. Fair and Balanced, right? This is why Keith Olbermann beat O’Reilly in the ratings last week.
This is an unacceptable action by the city manager Dennis Wilberg to intimidate a “Cub Reporter.” “Remember young LADY that if you do not toe the line I will cut off access to city hall”
This same city manager and city council voted to stop the public from pulling agenda items during city council meetings. The pulling of agenda items by the public assured open and honest dialogs over issues, projects, and city expenditures.
So what has this lack of transparency by this city council and administration yielded the citizens of Mission Viejo???
A Murray Center expansion at THREE times its originally estimated costs. Easelgate–the trashing of city assets by a city administrator, Firegate–the spending of city money to rehabilitate a county fire station and take over landscaping obligations/cost. Paying a part of the landscaping maintenance costs for some of our cities “Wealthiest Enclaves”–The Trees Vista complex, Finesterra on The Lake, and the Mallorca complex. There are many more examples of this in our “Emerald City”.
The list of people supplied to the reporter by the city manager is typically people who are benefiters of the cities largess. Example the $1.00 per year lessee–The YMCA, The Nadadores, The Chamber of Commerce who does not even have their office in our town and is dominated by car dealers who were given large sums of development money by the city. The Chamber is dominated by the very same utility that brought blight to North Mission Viejo. Look again at the list–very few of these people stay current with what is going on in the city–trust me–ask them some questions you will typically get a blank stare.
The city manager does not like the Blogs –because they are the “Sunshine of Truth” in this city.
Giving the list isnt bad exactly but it is a little manipulative and kinda greasy they way he led into it. I could see how you could read intimidation into the message amongst all the saccharin. Good for the reporter to stand up for herself. I’ll bet they dont give her a list again.
Questions for Dennis:
“we are always trying to get feedback from the community as a whole and not just a few”
Just who counts as “community” to you?
The hundreds of Mission Viejo residents who have appealed to your “administration” not to sanction placement of cell towers adjacent to homes, schools or parks?
Residents from 18 MV park & rec communities who delivered petitions, with signatures by the HUNDREDS begging this city not to spend their taxes on the prostitution services of ATS Communications?
You can refer the hundreds of other MV residents from the communities of El Mirador, Gilleran Park, and Lope De Vega Water Tower to the Federal government for help.
But the “ATS Master Plan” was brokered by this city alone- in spite of mass community feedback whose lives were negatively impacted by it.
Instead of listening to community feedback, you chose to pay the public relations firm “Glaab & Associates” $14,000 to put out a double sided propaganda sheet.
The brokering continues even to this day, with ATS suggesting ways that the city can now “launder” their cell tower profits by bundling, repackaging and selling the leases to third party investors.
Why are the call services of ATS being considered yet again, if you claim to value community feedback?
Dennis, after the $14,000 fact sheet incident, you asked me for my definition of “spin”.
Your letter to the OC register journalist suggesting that “happy customers” be interviewed is far less expensive spin and just as amusing.
What is this, the town of Maybury??
Instead of spending your energy (and money) on promoting “positive image”, could you take the simple, honest route of listening to feedback and considering how you might actually respond to the concerns of a few activists and hundreds of residents???
signed,
a mother, activist, and former resident
http://www.MVcell-out.org
Dan. We agree that the city manager was engaging in “smart media relations” as she covers the news in Mission Viejo. Through our watchdog activism in Mission Viejo we have exposed numerous examples of abuse which enabled us to remove both a mayor and vice mayor in the 2002 election.
Dan. As a well known blogger in OC you know the impact we collectively have on daily news stories. While the MV city manager challenges our agenda and tactics, most of us do our homework in order to establish and maintain credibility with those who read our posts.
Haya.
Thank you for shairing your thoughts with our readers. For those unfamiliar with Haya she is a concerned mother who took a lead role regarding cell tower health issues in our city. I commend her for “taking the point” in this fight.
Dan –
Why do you defend the MV City Manager after he takes advantage of a cub reporter in order to control the information being disseminated to his constituents, but condemn Carlos Bustamante for a bad, off-the-cuff joke about Sandra Hutchens, who frankly, can take care of herself?
I happen to agree with you on this issue; the people need an impartial media, but I don’t understand the double-standard.
SMS
Folks.
What I have not posted are yesterday’s off-line comments by councilman Frank Ury to our city manager claiming that I never have anything positive to say about our city to which I responded referencing four recent Juice posts.
They want to have their fingers in anything published that relates to the city. It’s called “damamge control” or “spin.” We would not need damamge control measures if we were transparent and fiscally responsible in city actions.
Sorry about the typo’s. DAMAGE has only one “m”
It is frustrating when you catch the city trying to hide their (mis)deeds. Case in point. A few years ago I reviewed the Check Register and found invoices payable to Granich Construction for the sole purpose of a clean-up below lower Curtis (ball)Park. What clean-up? Hot dog or hamburger wrappers?
No. $200,000 for some alleged “illegal dumping.”
As I began researching and taking on sight photos of the contractor excavating down to nine feet than grading the earth I asked the city staff if a police report was ever filed. No!. So I met with one of the Sgt.’s to file one as a private citizen. They said I had no evidence so no action was taken. One of the heavy equipment drivers said they were grading the land for future sports fields. While he made that allegation I did not see any blueprints so I did not pursure his allegation further. Eventually Dennis Wilberg admitted that some of the illegal materials was actually dirt from and El Toro Water District project dumped “with our knowledge and consent.” So much for illegal dumping. Through our activism we shut down that “stealth activity.”