The worm has turned
It's interesting that the O decided this week to go after Portland commissioner Randy Leonard for his pet project spending with water bureau money. None of the antics that the newspaper splashed across its front page were anywhere near new. The O didn't make a peep when Leonard pulled those stunts, and they were all well known -- why the big hubbub now?
The obvious answer is that now he's not running for re-election. If he were, you can bet there'd be no big feature about his abuse of the system. The O runs scared of most government officials, because without their cooperation the paper's people would have to work a lot harder to put out a product. You get guys like Randy or Goldschmidt or Packwood on your case, and suddenly they're not calling you with tips and leaks any more. Suddenly they're giving stories to your competition. Suddenly they answer everybody else's phone calls but yours.
But once they're on their way out, it's a lot easier to point out all the shinola they've done -- which at the time you sat there quietly watching. That's where we are with the Fireman now. Should be an interesting 18 months ahead -- if both his tenure in office and the newspaper make it that long.
| Posted at 11:44 AM | Permalink |
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Comments (11)
Yep, that is exactly what I thought we I saw their "expose" about his ridiculous spending habits. It was as if this was all newly discovered or something. The O is lame...nothing new there either...but you gotta call 'em on it. Funny how they really have been treating Sam with kid gloves lately, isn't it?
Posted by Usual Kevin | July 15, 2011 12:26 PM
Craven.
Posted by Snards | July 15, 2011 1:24 PM
As I understand it the Oregonian supported Neil, corrupt politics, and the left in general for over a quarter of a century.
When the O had driven away all adult readership Sandy Rowe and other senior people retired so that they might collect pensions and then swan around the nation as journalistic pros getting awards and kudos from their own ilk.
Meanwhile, American journalism has dwindled or been driven to programmed bots like Couric and Ohman.
I wonder if Ohman, when he was young and starting out in editorial cartooning realized that he would become a cartoon. He's a self-parody resembling one of those Hessian nut crackers where you press a lever, the jaw drops and the predicted activity occurs?
The brittle vacuity that Ohman embodies is the state of popular American journalism. And, as he wanders about collecting increasingly worthless awards from his peers in the years to come he'll never comprehend that he is representative the last stage of the last stages of professional degradation. Listening to himself pronouncing his own platitudes shall protect him from the whispers and chuckles.
Posted by LL | July 15, 2011 5:18 PM
Why is the Oregonian "outing bacteria" on Trimet. I know that paid reporters are being reapportioned, but why create a story to tell us that "buses are dirty" I look forward to Trimet providing butt wipes with paper sacks($.05 plus deposit), and the "O" reporters joining us in breathing the Chlorine that will result from their expose.
Posted by dhughes609 | July 15, 2011 5:28 PM
Nice ad hominem rant, LL. What have you got that's substantive?
Posted by Allan L. | July 15, 2011 5:58 PM
The o is the most liberal biased and dishonest. Paper.the reporters never tell the real truth in.their articles only the liberal biased garbage their editors tell them to write.
Posted by matthew vantres | July 15, 2011 7:09 PM
Well, thank you Allen. Felt good. The Oregonian is a long and dreary supporting document for my rant.
Do you really think the young and ambitious political cartoonist wanted to become a reactionary old... oh let's say odor in the wind? Do you think that he wanted to help drive local journalism into
a disgraceful present and a mournful future? I don't think so for one moment.I think as a beginner he had Bill Mauldin in mind.
Ohman? Why he's Ohman and is self-indicting. You'll see, some day he'll come knocking on your door with a satchel full of greasy old drawings - he'll not want money, just recognition and the odd award. Give him something ...and old basketball trophy...whatever.. watch his face light up and watch him sketch out something that would please an ancien regime hack.
He wouldn't dare offend Vera, Randy, Sam or Hubert Humphrey.
Posted by LL | July 15, 2011 7:52 PM
Traditional media, like the O, has long since migrated away from its traditional "Fourth Estate" role in straight-up reporting on government and politicians. Maybe they never were as good and honest at it as we might think, but it seems they were once at least better than they are now. And contrary to popular myth this migration DID NOT happen because of the Internet. But now, fortunately, we do have the Internet and blogs like this one to in some manner hold their feet to the fire. So keep up the good work, Jack. I don't always agree with you --sometimes I very much disagree with you-- but you are making a valuable contribution.
Posted by boycat | July 16, 2011 8:41 AM
...or should the house of cards fall down, the public will want to know why our paper didn't inform them? ...this way the O can claim they did and gave Leonard a bad time, never mind years too late. The watchdogs know it but unfortunately, if the public is not informed, they won't and it all works in the insiders favor!
Posted by clinamen | July 16, 2011 9:48 PM
Jack,
What is new is that BDS employees were hired by Shaff at Randy's behest to work only on projects unrelated to our water system. From day one the employees worked on projects unrelated to our water system.
It had also not been reported that operating engineers were paid a pretty penny to paint the Rose Festival Building.
Thanks to Brad Schmidt for publicly exposing that Randy was untruthful in his March 23, 2011 response statement to Auditor LaVonne Griffin-Valade re: Spending Utility Ratepayer Money http://www.portlandonline.com/auditor/index.cfm?c=53775&a=342881.
Randy then stated that no new employees were hired to renovate the Rose Festival building, that those same employees worked on water system facilities.
The truth as uncovered by Brad is that Randy hired BDS employees who from hour one worked on the Rose Festival building and then on other projects UNRELATED to our water system (up until they were layed off as the story was going to print).
And I don't believe that the Auditor's report addressed Dodge Park.
Here is another O story of misuse of Water Bureau funds that was not in print copy:
http://blog.oregonlive.com/portlandcityhall/2011/07/portland_water_bureau_employee.html
Posted by f. jones | July 17, 2011 9:37 PM
Another thing the O has passed on to date is Randy's notorious cronyism. It's also old news. The O could certainly do a tidy little piece on how many of his friends, children of his friends, or associates he has hand-picked and placed in jobs for which they have no training or background, either with no open hiring process or with an obviously phony process.
Posted by Elizabeth | July 18, 2011 3:09 PM