Uh, KCBX? Does Debbie Arnold Get Equal Time?
I really want to like Rick Mathews, I really do.
I mean, he's the volunteer host of that great Saturday afternoon jazz program on KCBX, Freedom Jazz Dance, and he's a huge Stevie Wonder fan (like me), and, in full disclosure, I actually did some web work for his business, Madrone Lanscapes, about 10 years ago, and he's a REALLY nice guy.
But, frankly, he does some things that involve his media position, his position as a SLO County Parks Commissioner, and his position as a local businessman, that, ethically, just make me cringe... over and over again.
The latest happened shortly after noon today, Saturday, just about an hour ago.
He made a quick announcement at the start of his show for an upcoming concert of (the lovely and talented, and, thus, locally popular) Inga Swearingen.
But, what Rick failed to mention in his announcement -- during a broadcast that is capable of covering the entire north county -- is that Inga's concert is "a benefit concert for Jim Patterson for Supervisor," who is facing a tough re-election challenge, against Debbie Arnold. (Arnold almost won that office last time around, missed it by just a couple of hundred votes, out of more than 20,000, if memory serves, and she's REALLY close again.)
And it's THAT -- the NON-mentioning of the "benefit concert to reelect 5th District Supervisor, Jim Patterson" in association with Inga's concert, by Mathews on his radio show, that, on a media/ethical level, just makes me cringe.
You see, Mathews is ALSO an official SLO County, uh, official, where he sits on the SLO County Parks Commission, appointed by ... wait for it... 5th District Supervisor, Jim Patterson.
So, look at this huge cringe moment: KCBX Host, Rick Mathews, is broadcasting, on public radio, an advertisement for a concert that will benefit Parks Commissioner, Rick Mathews' (and his boss') chances at keeping their official, SLO County seats, which also makes them clients of County Counsel, Warren Jensen... and Mathews doesn't disclose that on his widely-broadcast radio show?
Uhg.
I wonder if Debbie Arnold has a friend that hosts a show on KCBX? You know, for that "equal time" thing.
And don't even get me started on Mathews' Madrone Landscapes/SLO County Parks Commission/SLO Botanical Garden/Pandora Nash-Karner connection.
Cringe. Cringe. Cringe. CRINGE! (I'm crampin' up here.)
But the Inga he played, sure sounded sweet.
###
I mean, he's the volunteer host of that great Saturday afternoon jazz program on KCBX, Freedom Jazz Dance, and he's a huge Stevie Wonder fan (like me), and, in full disclosure, I actually did some web work for his business, Madrone Lanscapes, about 10 years ago, and he's a REALLY nice guy.
But, frankly, he does some things that involve his media position, his position as a SLO County Parks Commissioner, and his position as a local businessman, that, ethically, just make me cringe... over and over again.
The latest happened shortly after noon today, Saturday, just about an hour ago.
He made a quick announcement at the start of his show for an upcoming concert of (the lovely and talented, and, thus, locally popular) Inga Swearingen.
But, what Rick failed to mention in his announcement -- during a broadcast that is capable of covering the entire north county -- is that Inga's concert is "a benefit concert for Jim Patterson for Supervisor," who is facing a tough re-election challenge, against Debbie Arnold. (Arnold almost won that office last time around, missed it by just a couple of hundred votes, out of more than 20,000, if memory serves, and she's REALLY close again.)
And it's THAT -- the NON-mentioning of the "benefit concert to reelect 5th District Supervisor, Jim Patterson" in association with Inga's concert, by Mathews on his radio show, that, on a media/ethical level, just makes me cringe.
You see, Mathews is ALSO an official SLO County, uh, official, where he sits on the SLO County Parks Commission, appointed by ... wait for it... 5th District Supervisor, Jim Patterson.
So, look at this huge cringe moment: KCBX Host, Rick Mathews, is broadcasting, on public radio, an advertisement for a concert that will benefit Parks Commissioner, Rick Mathews' (and his boss') chances at keeping their official, SLO County seats, which also makes them clients of County Counsel, Warren Jensen... and Mathews doesn't disclose that on his widely-broadcast radio show?
Uhg.
I wonder if Debbie Arnold has a friend that hosts a show on KCBX? You know, for that "equal time" thing.
And don't even get me started on Mathews' Madrone Landscapes/SLO County Parks Commission/SLO Botanical Garden/Pandora Nash-Karner connection.
Cringe. Cringe. Cringe. CRINGE! (I'm crampin' up here.)
But the Inga he played, sure sounded sweet.
###
posted by Ron at
12:46 PM
5 Comments:
Gwarsh, Ron. For the first sentence and paragraph, I thought I'd landed on a different Blog.
By
Alon Perlman, at 12:38 PM, March 11, 2012
Alon writes:
"Gwarsh, Ron. For the first sentence and paragraph, I thought I'd landed on a different Blog."
Much like the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game, I, strangely (and fun-ly), can pretty much do the same with Pandora, when it comes to someone doing something corrupt and sneaky in SLO County government.
KCBX Host, Rick Mathews? Also a SLO County Parks Commissioner, and terribly conflicted local businessman/SLO Botanical Garden honk, EXACTLY like Pandora.
See? One degree of Pandora.
How 'bout, Rick, huh?
Ya know, I conceived and published my piece in about an hour -- so quickly that there was still another hour left in Rick's radio show, after I published my piece.
In that hour, he would go on to promote his and his bosses' fundraiser several more times in that show, without EVER stating that it WAS a fundraiser for him and his boss... deliberately NOT mentioning that super-important detail.
I'm soooo sick of that kind of sneakiness in this county.
A few months back, Pandora was actually on his show, as a guest, promoting ANOTHER fundraiser concert by Inga for the SLO Botanical Garden, where both Parks Commissioners, Mathews and Nash-Karner, ALSO have professional business ties.
[comment continued next panel]
By
Ron, at 12:23 PM, March 12, 2012
Now, Inga and I kinda go WAY back (I mean, to me, she'll always be the farmer of the excellent hops that I used in my homebrew. ["One FAT ounce." Trust me, Inga knows what I'm talking about when I say that. We've laughed about that line many times.])
So, it just kills me to see her being played -- USED -- by the shaky likes of sneaky SLO County government officials, like Pandora and Mathews, just so those two can pad their bank accounts... just makes me sick to see her beautiful talent being used like that.
Debbie Arnold definitely should get a two hour slot on KCBX as equal time.
Heck, I'LL host it, and we'll discuss Jim Patterson's despicable public actions over the past four years, including ALLOWING/APPROVING Mathews to use his position as a Parks Commissioner to funnel money to the SLO Botanical Garden, where both Pandora and Mathews have professional business ties.
Now THAT would qualify as "equal time," and, I guarantee it: After THAT 2-hour show, that "200 vote" margin of victory from the previous election, would completely evaporate in less than two hours.
By
Ron, at 12:25 PM, March 12, 2012
Heck, Ron I'm sorry our physical pathes never crossed. (Or didn't they?) Probably the closest I came was when Julie called you after a BOS meeting.
But, I've gotten close, to many people in Los Osos and on all eight sides of the Sewer Debate, and I consider you among them, even though, and specifically because ;
A. You didn't live in Los Osos.
TtBoMK
And
B. You don't care about the Los Osos sewer project... at all.
So I didn't catch a mention in the CCC, It may be the ED's perrogative, but they do follow their procedures.
By
Alon Perlman, at 10:35 PM, March 12, 2012
Alon writes:
"A. You didn't live in Los Osos."
That is correct. I have never lived in Los Osos. WAAAY too dreary of summers for my taste. I like my summers, you know, sunny.
But I DID commute from SLO to work as a newspaper reporter and editor in Los Osos for several years throughout the 1990s, and there's no one that knows a town better than the local reporter/editor that covers a variety of stories, day in and day out, involving that town, regardless whether or not he/she lives there.
I argue that, because I reported in Los Osos for so many years, I know that town better than anyone. And I mean the REAL, ugly, behind-the-scenes Los Osos, and it ain't pretty.
Just like Ann writes in her latest comment:
"People of good will, people working for solutions, were not simply disagreed with, they were demonized and trashed and discredited (Criticize or even question one thing about any project and you were branded an ANTI-SEWER OBSTRUCTIONIST! and dismissed as a crazy. Hard to get community input or any kind of reasonable discussion going with that kind of coordinated, organized disparagement.)"
Bingo, and welcome to Los Osos.
Oh, and by the way: KCBX, Rick Mathews, Jim Patterson, and Pandora? I have excellent news for you:
Because it was me that exposed that you guys are using the local public radio station as Jim Patterson's personal campaign fundraising machine, just so y'all can keep the cashola a-comin' in, that means that now, the rest of the useless, worse-than-nothing, local "media" will completely ignore this amazing story... because I got to it first.
And that means absolutely nothing will come of it. So, feel free to keep using KCBX to sneakily raise campaign money for your SLO County government bosses, so you can also keep your offical SLO County government positions, where you funnel public money to your (and your spouses) business. You're good to go now.
So, as usual, you're welcome!
By
Ron, at 10:41 AM, March 13, 2012
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