There seems to be something vaguely inappropriate about elected officials getting involved in what our distinguished mayor has referred to as the "rumor mill". So when we heard a few days ago that School Board Member Elect Elizabeth Bingham had been asking around about the Editor of the Claremont Courier, Rebecca JamesCourie, we had to admit to a few pangs of discomfort. Now, however, we are hearing reliably--and from a surprising and therefore very credible source--that sitting City Council member Sam Pedroza (above) has actually phoned Ms. JamesCourie (below, right, in black and white) to get it, as it were, from the horse's mouth.
Our concern is that this smacks of official intimidation of the press by a City official. Of course, the day Pedroza made that phone call was the day our phone tap at City Hall had a dead battery (Joke. No need to call Homeland Security.) and we are not privy to the conversation, but no conversation we can imagine casts Pedroza in a good light. Either he is ham-handedly applying pressure for better or different coverage ("Here's what I know about you; I can use this; just watch your step."), which is despicable. Or he is engaging in juvenile playground clique behavior. And what does that say about a councilmember and his judgment? Can any among us imagine a serious intelligent person doing this?
So here it is; we are probably the last to know: Rebecca JamesCourie is related by marriage to unsuccessful city council candidate Opanyi Nasiali (right).
Well, as they say, you can pick your friends but you can't pick your relatives.
We are not inclined to visit Nasiali's sins on JamesCourie, nor are we inclined to visit JamesCourie's sins on Nasiali.
JamesCourie's position with the Courier didn't seem to help Nasiali in the last election: he came in fifth of five serious candidates. We don't blame Nasiali for some of the recent ups and downs of the Courier.
The question we have is this: Why are our elected officials involving themselves in this petty stuff? Doesn't Bingham (left) have her hands full trying to learn something--anything--about the school district? And shouldn't Pedroza be studying up on the effects of marijuana dispensaries in communities so that his next vote on the issue is informed not only by his heart but his head? We are afraid we see nothing to this episode other than the same old, tired MO of Claremont's ruling clique: government by whisper.
Speaking of petty, juvenile behavior.Maybe Sam Pedroza could call up Hilary LaConte (recent top vote-getter in the school board race) to confirm that she just canceled her subscription to the Courier. It's all over town. Not only that--didja hear?--she wants a full refund. We guess the next time the Courier makes an endorsement in the school board race (it endorsed Bingham and Miller, and not LaConte) it should consider the economic impact of that endorsement on the paper's numbers.
We've thought for a long time that LaConte is innocent of any wisdom. She showed in the campaign that she is bereft of knowledge. Now it appears that she is jettisoning information as well.
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