Theo Douglas
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2 months ago
in MORE BAD NEWS FROM P-T OWNER DEAN SINGLETON on The District Weekly
CoastalAdvocate, I'm a former P-T employee myself (from February 1990 through November 2003). But I wasn't really thinking of any shared interest when I used the phrase "our main man," other than, in a certain sense--merely by owning the P-T, Long Beach's daily paper--Singleton is everyone's main man. Also, the mighty wicked dangerous Ali G. used to use that phrase--and I enjoy remembering "Da Ali G Show."
1 reply
4 months ago
in “WE’RE LOSING THE PUBLIC TRUST” ON MAIN LIBRARY on The District Weekly
DWR,
Sometimes comments have trouble showing up immediately after you write them--it's just one of the mysteries of the Internet, which doesn't always work as smoothly as we'd like.
You're not alone--it's happened to me, on this very site. I've actually lost whole pieces I was trying to post.
Thanks for writing us, though, and thanks for your perseverance. I believe your comments should be visible by now.
Sometimes comments have trouble showing up immediately after you write them--it's just one of the mysteries of the Internet, which doesn't always work as smoothly as we'd like.
You're not alone--it's happened to me, on this very site. I've actually lost whole pieces I was trying to post.
Thanks for writing us, though, and thanks for your perseverance. I believe your comments should be visible by now.
1 reply
John_B
An Open Letter to Ms. Schipske and Her Elected and Appointed Colleagues:
Public trust must first be possessed before it can be lost.
I would say that the overall trust factor for almost all facets of our local government is extremely low at the moment, and getting lower. Most of those you are hearing from (by various means) fit into two distinct categories:
1: Those who are extremely annoyed at the way many of the current budget proposals (including that involving the main library) were developed and presented or,
2: Those who are “not particularly surprised”.
Those who are extremely annoyed are the ones whose opinions you (our local elected and appointed officials) have been damaging and eroding for some time now.
You lost, quite possibly irretrievably, those who are “not particularly surprised” a long time ago.
From deficits to infrastructure to the museum of art to polluted beaches to the breakwater to redevelopment to our public schools and more, the public’s capacity to trust that you (our local government) can efficiently and successfully manage their business has been slowly but inexorably dissolving for decades.
Your public doesn’t feel included. Meetings intended to solicit public input are so poorly planned and run that time actually provided to the public is routinely and severely truncated. These meetings are, in fact, *our* meetings, yet we are routinely made to feel as though you entertain our comments only grudgingly.
Your public doesn’t feel you are sufficiently honest with them. You routinely say that we ‘must’ do one thing or another to better manage our city, yet fail to fully explain to us why. When you do bother to explain, you routinely offer us insufficient facts so that we may best advise you of the direction we want you to take.
Your public is fed up with financial ineptitude. We’re tired of hearing about budget deficits that could and should be better planned for and resolved but are not. Like almost all other budgets, our budget fails not because we don’t have enough revenue, but because we routinely spend more than we make. Our government was never intended to be all things to all people. There are some products, services and programs that you (as a government) have no business even offering, let alone providing. That you continue to try to provide these excesses costs us precious revenue that we then cannot apply to the things that should be clear priorities: sound infrastructure, quality education, superb public safety, a cleaner environment and a welcoming business climate.
Your public is tired of the overall lack of accountability (i.e. consequences) for failure. When an appointed manager repeatedly fails to meet the goals and objectives you set for him/her, they must be dismissed and replaced with another who will meet them. When a publicly funded project repeatedly fails to meet the reasonable benchmarks for success that you set for it, you *must* de-fund that project.
Your public desires that you maintain our infrastructure. When you build a library, you must maintain it. When you build roads and sidewalks, you must keep them…all of them…in a condition that is safe to use. When you build neighborhoods, you must pave the alleyways and you must assure that sufficient parking and ingress and egress exist to prevent related parking and traffic congestion.
Your public desires that you keep the promises you make. When you use public funds to build an aquarium or a parking structure or to improve a museum and promise us that each will be able to re-pay their debts to us and operate self-sufficiently, you must do better at protecting our investments and become much more decisive in your actions in response to failures.
In short, Ms. Schipske and colleagues, you need to govern more effectively. This does not mean becoming more adept at convincing us that what *you* desire to do is best for us. It means becoming more adept at subordinating yourselves, during your time in office, to those who are truly sovereign in this relationship: the People, as represented by a majority of the electorate.
It means closing your mouths and opening your ears…and your minds…far more often than you do currently; to what your constituents are saying and what it is they want for their city.
It means understanding, once clearly communicated, what your constituents truly want for their city that and then doing that and nothing else but that.
Once you and your elected and appointed colleagues better understand these things, Ms. Schipske, and then begin to govern accordingly, then and only then will you begin to recover that public trust of which you speak.
Public trust must first be possessed before it can be lost.
I would say that the overall trust factor for almost all facets of our local government is extremely low at the moment, and getting lower. Most of those you are hearing from (by various means) fit into two distinct categories:
1: Those who are extremely annoyed at the way many of the current budget proposals (including that involving the main library) were developed and presented or,
2: Those who are “not particularly surprised”.
Those who are extremely annoyed are the ones whose opinions you (our local elected and appointed officials) have been damaging and eroding for some time now.
You lost, quite possibly irretrievably, those who are “not particularly surprised” a long time ago.
From deficits to infrastructure to the museum of art to polluted beaches to the breakwater to redevelopment to our public schools and more, the public’s capacity to trust that you (our local government) can efficiently and successfully manage their business has been slowly but inexorably dissolving for decades.
Your public doesn’t feel included. Meetings intended to solicit public input are so poorly planned and run that time actually provided to the public is routinely and severely truncated. These meetings are, in fact, *our* meetings, yet we are routinely made to feel as though you entertain our comments only grudgingly.
Your public doesn’t feel you are sufficiently honest with them. You routinely say that we ‘must’ do one thing or another to better manage our city, yet fail to fully explain to us why. When you do bother to explain, you routinely offer us insufficient facts so that we may best advise you of the direction we want you to take.
Your public is fed up with financial ineptitude. We’re tired of hearing about budget deficits that could and should be better planned for and resolved but are not. Like almost all other budgets, our budget fails not because we don’t have enough revenue, but because we routinely spend more than we make. Our government was never intended to be all things to all people. There are some products, services and programs that you (as a government) have no business even offering, let alone providing. That you continue to try to provide these excesses costs us precious revenue that we then cannot apply to the things that should be clear priorities: sound infrastructure, quality education, superb public safety, a cleaner environment and a welcoming business climate.
Your public is tired of the overall lack of accountability (i.e. consequences) for failure. When an appointed manager repeatedly fails to meet the goals and objectives you set for him/her, they must be dismissed and replaced with another who will meet them. When a publicly funded project repeatedly fails to meet the reasonable benchmarks for success that you set for it, you *must* de-fund that project.
Your public desires that you maintain our infrastructure. When you build a library, you must maintain it. When you build roads and sidewalks, you must keep them…all of them…in a condition that is safe to use. When you build neighborhoods, you must pave the alleyways and you must assure that sufficient parking and ingress and egress exist to prevent related parking and traffic congestion.
Your public desires that you keep the promises you make. When you use public funds to build an aquarium or a parking structure or to improve a museum and promise us that each will be able to re-pay their debts to us and operate self-sufficiently, you must do better at protecting our investments and become much more decisive in your actions in response to failures.
In short, Ms. Schipske and colleagues, you need to govern more effectively. This does not mean becoming more adept at convincing us that what *you* desire to do is best for us. It means becoming more adept at subordinating yourselves, during your time in office, to those who are truly sovereign in this relationship: the People, as represented by a majority of the electorate.
It means closing your mouths and opening your ears…and your minds…far more often than you do currently; to what your constituents are saying and what it is they want for their city.
It means understanding, once clearly communicated, what your constituents truly want for their city that and then doing that and nothing else but that.
Once you and your elected and appointed colleagues better understand these things, Ms. Schipske, and then begin to govern accordingly, then and only then will you begin to recover that public trust of which you speak.
Thanks for the explanation and for all of your years of excellent work. A very close associate of ours, who has owned many papers, and who cut his teeth on the 'Pentagon Papers' , told me a lot of terrible things about the apparent greed and lack of conscience of Mr. Singleton .
At some point in time I think that you fine folks should let the town know more about this guy and his reputation for 'Slash and burn' newspaper acquisition and destruction ?. I have no doubt that a bunch of people would cancel their PT subscriptions solely due to how many institutions and fine people he has supposedly harmed, if my sources are correct ?
''
And 'Yo yo yo'....you all does a great Ali G...yo yo yo..and ''..peace out..''...and....''maach luv''.