Smith Wal-Mart Issue: Spinners and The Muckraker
Hoping the brouhaha regarding his battles with the Northridge Neighborhood Council and Wal-Mart would die out quickly, Councilman Greig Smith is looking to spin other issues to take the spotlight off accusations of flip-flops, alleged bribes and claims of credit-stealing. Still, despite a beautiful weekend, time was found by Sister City readers to discuss the issue further and even Martini Republic joined in on the fun.Rushing to the next news cycle, Smith gets involved in the opening of a new day labor center at Home Depot in Van Nuys (similar to one in Burbank which this weekend drew a couple hundred protestors and counter-protestors). He's also quickly fired off another one his e-newlsetters (which we have graciously posted in toto on Mayor Sam 2) about what he is doing to make the life of business people in LA, easier.
The job of the handlers of any politician who gets embroiled in a brouhaha is to quickly divert the focus to other areas. In this case, Smith's staff is doing their job. On the other hand, the job of an arrogant, self-important, muckraking blogger is to try to refocus attention on the original, more important issue.
Posted by Mayor Sam @ 1/23/2006 12:11:00 AM
19 Comments:
"Rushing to the next news cycle..." is a damn good phrase.
I work for Tony C. and this “story” wasn't a press Conference. We didn't have a press conference. This link from the "story" was taken from a D.N. article that the Council simply voted to fix a broken Temp. Labor Center.
So, at least get the facts correct.
Where did they say either Tony C. or Greig or both had a press conference?
It said:
"Smith gets involved in the opening of a new day labor center at Home Depot in Van Nuys"
Did you get "news cycle" confused with press conference?
You work for Cardenas? Man, we have problems.
How pathetic are you that all you can discuss is Smith? Get something new. No wonder MayorSam only has 400,000 hits since it opened...its complete horseshit.
And I don't work for ANY City Councilmember.
Keep on raking.
It takes a heap of arrogance to keep up with our city governmant.
Noel,
No wonder you know so much about city "governmant". Nobody has a "heap" of arrogance (or hypocrisy, for that matter) quite as big as yours.
12:36 PM:
I plead guilty as charged to a few typos in the heat of the moment, but I can only laugh at "anonymous" people who accuse their neighbors of hypocrisy and arrogance for trying to defend themselves from an out of control public agency.
Sorry Mayor Sam looks like Smith made it to the next news cycle.
Don't worry , it won't be long before he finds a new pile of horseshit to step in.
You might not work for a councilmember, but if you find this Smith news "pathetic"(1. Arousing sympathetic sadness and compassion), what story line did you favor the most and would like to hear more of? CD 14 bashing? Mayoral candidate bashing? Who is hot in City Hall?
If you feel so much sadness and compassion for Greig Smith, please try and remember that he chose his job.
The people here just report on that job and give their own opinions.
Funny - I never read anyone who felt compassionate when Bernie Parks was taking a beating or Jack Weiss, or Janice Hahn, etc.
Maybe this really is CD 12 staff (or in your case-a friend of theirs) and Alger is right, which some of us hate to admit.
Noel,
Arrogance and hypocrisy is describing your actions as "trying to defend themselves from an out of control public agency."
If I remember right you were the one who donated more money than you ever had before to one candidate this last mayoral election, put up a huge sign that ticked off most of your neighbors, and then was personally consulted on who the Harbor Commisioners would be .
MAV didn't promise YOU local representation because you didn't ask for it (this time, that is.) YOU don't think local representation is all that hot anymore, do you? So much for the neighbors defending themselves.....
Let's see, Noel Park is an air quality advocate whose business is taking care of gas guzzling Corvettes.
Noel Park hates Harbor development and the diesel it produces but fed his family for eighteen years primarily by working to build that same harbor. But that was okay because he didn't know diesel was that bad back then. (The Harbor says the same thing because no studies were done back then, but the Harbor Department is EVIL!!! Thay must suffer! Their efforts so far are disastrous! Noel cannot be blamed! All his efforts are GOOD!)
Everything he'll still take credit for, that is..
By the way, Noel, how would you describe the LAHD effort towards improving the water quality over the last twenty years. I believe they were praised on an International level on that. But we can't use that as a barometer on whether they'll take on the diesel issue in a similar manner in the future because NOEL PARK IS THE AIR GOD! Any measured improvement in air must be attributed to NOEL PARK!
Why? Because the person who complains the most should always win! Plus, if we don't Noel's gonna hold his breath until his face turns red and stomp all around making dinner unpleasant.
Noel, you're on the inside now...You're right. Local port advocates don't count that much anymore at City Hall. Bridge to Breakwater can't break wind anymore.
Traffic improvements be damned! More condos please, just don't disturb pedestrian access. You won, local residents don't count as much anymore. (Local residents other than you and the twelve little fleas, that is.)
Noel, just please deposit the martyr costume at the security gate next time you visit City Hall. You won't need to stash the knives anymore. Remember, thos e knives you already "deposited" in the backs of Janice and her brother, dont you?
Noel, please continue to defend us from the evil forces you define for us. We know not the evil we do by ignoring your position of the day.
How do you put up with us, oh wise one? How dare we call YOU arrogant and hypocritical? Forgive me Noel, I am heartily sorry.
You want my name and address so you and the other fleas can come infest the place? SORRY, this is the only life I have to live, I don't want to have to go to six meetings a week for the rest of my life trying to defend myself from the likes of YOU.
How's that for a heap of arrogance?!
What does Noel and the Port have to do with CD12?
Yeh! And how about losing 1,000 jobs in Chatsworth? Duh! Where was Smith? At least Alger is aware of what's happening in his district.
3:31 PM:
It's a pretty impressive heap of arrogance alright.
Thanks for your kind words about my insider status at City Hall. It'll be news to MAV and his staff, assuming that they read this blog.
I did support MAV and tick off a lot of my neighbors, but it still looks like the right choice to me. At least the new Harbor Commission is saying many of the right things, although any change on the ground with the staff and its shills is pretty hard to see, as witness your comment.
Based upon the findings of the "NO Net Increase" Task Force, put into place by the very same Mr. Hahn, the diesel emissions of the Port will kill over 150 people this year, many by such agonizing deaths as lung cancer, empysema, and asthma. The lucky ones will go quickly by heart attack or stroke.
This will result in health impact costs of over $1 BILLION externalized onto the public. If you wonder why your health insurance premiums are so high, and the County health care system is so strained, that's part of it. That's for the Port of Los Angeles alone. Double it for Long Beach.
Let's see how you spin that.
By the way, thanks Mayor Sam, but it's cool.
Any opportunity to get the news from the Diesel Death Zone out to the public is a gift.
As you always say, "Blog on dum dums."
Well, Arch, we will take any help we can get from anywhere we can get it.
We have reached out repeatedly to Don Knabe, but he will not touch these issues with a 10 foot pole. Come on Supes, if you want to show some leadership.
As to the governance of the two ports, they are entirely separate. One is "controlled" by the City of Los Angeles, and the other by the City of Long Beach. Up to now it has been "never the twain shall meet."
This has led to false "competition" and price cutting for the industry, to the detriment of the citizens.
We have suggested many times that they should be combined, possibly under some sort of regional authority, a la the Port of New York and New Jersey. Turf battles have mede this impossible until now.
Mr. Freeman is suggesting closer cooperation, including possibly one or more joint Harbor Commission meetings, but it hasn't happened yet. It is a good suggestion on his part.
Mr. Burke, head of the SCAQMD board has called for a "summit meeting" among himself and the presidents of the two Harbor commissions, to address the air pollution emergency. This would seem useful, if it happens, but it hasn't yet either.
Arch:
Does that mean it should be easier or harder here?
Putting Burke, Freeman and some commissioners in a room to "work on some problems" sounds like a Brown Act violation to me.
Oh right. This was a CD 12 thread.
Doh!
From what I can gather here, Smith is the spinner and Alger is the muckraker?
A muckraker is a person who investigates and exposes societal issues such as political corruption and similar topics.
Generally, muckraking tends to be targeted at forces in power and the established institution of society.
The term muckraker is most usually associated with a group of American investigative reporters, novelists and critics from the late 1800s to early 1900s, but also applies to contemporary persons who follow in the tradition of those from that period.
Although the term muckraking might appear to have negative connotations, muckrakers have most often sought to serve the public interest by uncovering crime, corruption, waste, fraud and abuse in both the public and private sectors.
So, yes. Alger is the Muckraker.
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