Joe Shaw wrote this morning about today’s O.C. Register editorial , which admonished the Santa Ana City Council to “get over it.” The Los Angeles Times also stepped up to our defense today with their own editorial, entitled “Say what you will.” Here are a few excerpts from the Times editorial:
The price of participating in government should not include losing the right to express an opinion. Mayors and city council members may expect their top political operatives to toe the party line, but it’s different — or at least it ought to be — for the citizen commissioners they appoint to oversee city operations. Those commissioners are selected for their devotion to civic affairs and are precisely the people who must be free to criticize the city, its government, its politicians, its employees, even each other.
That was true in the days when loose-cannon commissioners took to the local park or the radio to harangue the government. It’s no less true today, when they are more likely to put their thoughts on a blog and invite people to comment. So it’s alarming that some members of the Santa Ana City Council have told bloggers who sit on city boards and commissions to curb their online criticisms, as reported Monday by Times staff writer Jennifer Delson in the Orange County edition.
In the case of Art Pedroza, the commissioner shouldn’t be forced to choose between serving on the city’s Housing and Redevelopment Commission and airing his views of city government on orangejuiceblog.com, which he founded. If the councilwoman who appointed him — perhaps in an effort to bring a critical gadfly into the fold — regrets her decision, or is being pressured by her colleagues to shut him up, that’s too bad. There’s no point to having citizen commissions if politicians get to bounce their appointees for not being “team players.”
Be sure to read the rest of this editorial at this link. Thank you to our friends at the Register and the L.A. Times for their stirring words in defense of free speech!
Very cool!
Keep up the great work!!
The problem is that nether LA Times and OC Register would publish any of your articles.
So this is a meaningless crapola.
Some of the bloggers here have been published in their local papers.
#2
It’s unfortunate you under rate the significance of an editorial. Apparently the AP found the story important enough to pick it up as well.
Joe Shaw is correct; some of the OJ bloggers have been published in the OC Register and LATimes.
Your post is meaningless crapola because you’re clueless about this timely topic.
The key word is “SOME” — #4.
“some of the OJ bloggers have been published in the OC Register and LATimes”
Ask Joe Shaw to publish Claudio’s crapola about the Mayor of Costa Mesa including all Hitler pictures.
I can guarantee you that Mr. Shaw would get fired. So obviously he is using the occasion to get at his OC management.
Eventually Pedroza, Mill, Gordon and Gallegos will be fired from the commission and that is all.
Then they can continue publish anything they want until someone will sue them.
#2,
On the contrary,the L.A.Times and Register’s attention to this issue is very significant.You are just expressing disgust with the fact that these two news institutions support the commissioners.
Well-written, Art!
I think you should make the first sentence of paragraph two bold and in huge font…
“The price of participating in government should not include losing the right to express an opinion.”
Irresponsible kiddy Repubs gone bad. I would boycott any company that advertised on this blog. Will you post this?