Rebuttal to the Critics

Here we were, all prepared to move on from Friday's scoop. Then came Saturday's press coverage. Monday morning, I posted six stories all on other topics. We were ready to move on to the next big story. Then, low and behold, CNN comes along and covers our humble little blog and the reporting from Friday. Wow! We are shocked that we have come this far. Then the avalanche of visitors. The number is incredible and I welcome all of the new readers.

For those of you who don't know the story behind this blog, let me give you a quick wrap-up. Mayor Sam's Sister City is brought to you by 4 anony-bloggers with a special interest in LA politics. It was all the brainchild of one crazy alter-ego Mayor Sam. He was a frequent contributor to a now-shutdown blog known as the Fourth Floor Blog. (Council offices in the LA City Hall are located on the fourth floor). When the site went dark, Mayor Sam stepped in and 10 months later here we are, well on our way to 250,000 overall visits.

As for the story at hand, much attention has been brought to bear over the story, it's source, and it's validity. The newest attack comes from Robert Gelfand, an activist with the Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council who also writes for the American Reporter. Here's his newest crap not fit for print.

Rather than copy his stuff (a waste of space), I'll trust that you'll read it and then read the response below. Don't worry, I'll wait for you.

Back already? OK. Here we go, point by point.

Last time I checked pictures are proof. She admitted to the foley after seeing them. We were right, as everyone has come to see.

We hardly have the power to manipulate reporters. I wish we had the power, but alas we can only provide them material to write about.

We never said she was driving, nor that she was in it. You should do your homework and actually read the post. You even copied it later in your own article.

As for the two stories, my closing line read: "As you can see, there are a few discrepancies between the two stories and the need for some additional follow-up, but that will come later today after we enjoy our morning cup 'o joe"

We didn't follow-up out of request from our readers in the comments on this post and the fact that she had owned up to it and had taken responsibility for it. It was time to move on.

Both reporters did follow-up on the story. They both contacted the Councilwoman. They both showed journalistic integrity and verified all of it before filing their own stories. Many reporters were at the event in question. I'm going to add the full image of the cropped one from the original post.

(Note that we offered this and all originals to anyone who asked in the footer of the original post. Many reporters took us up on this, but not Gelfand)

Notice the car next to hers? It belongs to none other than Rick Orlov from the Daily News, one of the most respected and most notably referred to as the "Dean" of the City Hall reporters. (Yes, he has a placard legally and is supposed to be parked there. That's why we have these spots to begin with. Good thing he beat the Councilwoman to the event!) He can vouch to the question of times, drop-offs, etc... but it doesn't matter. She was driven to the event in this car. It was parked illegally. She left in the same car. Period. She has said as much!

Neither story "debunked the scoop". They corroborated it and backed it up, reporting on it themselves. What dope are you smoking!

As to the location, we did have it wrong in the text of the banter. As you rightly noted above in your own column, no one was meant to take the dialogue portion seriously. Anyone with half a brain would see that I was commenting on many posts at the same time I would have alledgedly been in Watts. This isn't rocket science. As for the main topic of the story, it still holds legs. The press reporters as you noted all did include all of it, and vouched for it, and again even the Councilwoman admitted it happened.

We are anonymous, and she wouldn't have given us the time of day. Also, we not only had the physical proof, but we personally spoke with the picture taker, and knew it was legit. We also saw the press coverage proving she was there on multiple channels. We could have told this to you had you bothered to follow your own advice and contact us, whom you are aledging misdeeds of, but no, you didn't either.

We have never claimed to be "mainstream journalists" nor do we want to be. We offer a voice to those who don't have one, yet live this life every day. She was legitimately "skewered" and the evidence was backed up by CNN, the LA Times, the Daily News and multiple blogs.

My humble advice to you Mr. Gelfand is to take your head out of Ms. Hahn's and Kevin Roderick's ass and try to follow your own advice on your own story.

I can't believe I just wasted this much space on your worthless pile of crap.