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Two Fullerton council members criticize Register columnist Steve Greenhut for not asking questions they wouldn’t have answered anyway

By Jack Dean

Two members of the Fullerton City Council have written a letter to the publisher of the Orange County Register criticizing editorial columnist Steve Greenhut for his coverage of the 25% pension formula boost that is being discussed with the city’s employees. While I don’t believe the letter has been printed yet, the fact that I was sent a PDF copy yesterday from City Hall via e-mail indicates to me that it’s okay to put it online, so here it is.

The letter, signed by council members Don Bankhead and Pam Keller, is exceedingly strange in that it takes Greenhut to task for using “misleading information and factual errors” in his columns and editorials, and for not asking questions to clarify information on the negotiations. It’s strange because we all received a special lecture at the August 19th council meeting on labor law, the Brown Act and the importance of confidentiality to contract negotiations. So they are lambasting Greenhut for not asking questions that they would have refused to answer anyway.

The letter cites eight “egregious errors” made by Greenhut that it lists along with an accompanying “fact” for each. But I don’t see anything new here. Instead, I see each of these “facts” as red herrings that are attempts to distract citizens from the key issues.

Interestingly, the one person that Greenhut says he did place a call to — Mayor Sharon Quirk (she never returned his call) — did not sign the letter. Most likely this is because she’s seeking re-election in November and wants to remain above the fray. But she can only avoid the spotlight (hotseat?) of public opinion until it’s time to vote on this pension boost. Then she’ll have to pick a side. Will she align herself with the taxpayers, or with the unions that she’ll be depending on to help her get re-elected? Bets, anyone?

The motivating factor for this letter appears to be anger at Steve Greenhut for exposing the issue, and its main thrust is an attempt to discredit him in the eyes of his employer and with the readers of his columns. But the accusations that he has been irresponsible or violated any journalistic codes of ethics ring hollow — especially coming from elected officials who have chosen to hurl them while hiding behind the shield of secrecy they have constructed by perverting the Brown Act, a law designed to promote openness in government.

Jack Dean is president of the Fullerton Association of Concerned Taxpayers and editor of PensionTsunami.com.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 5th, 2008 at 7:57 am and is filed under Fullerton. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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