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After you calm down, ask the firefighters simply for a response to Pearl's "editorial". THAT'S what I was suggesting.
Who's got the "cooler head"?
The cooler heads belong to those who are rationally convinced that we don't need this tax increase.
Instead of taking everything he says at face value, take the time to get the other side of a story he runs. Notice he rarely publishes anything from anyone who would dispute him within a story. Instead, he mocks them, as in the kool aid remark in today's piece. The trouble with Pearl is he believes his own speculation as fact. With his background and considering who he's married to, one would think he'd know better. My suggestion here is, if nothing else, if you're going to promote Pearl's piece as you have, is to get the reacton of the people he's attacking. See if there weren't more meetings on the issue, see if others there took Schipske's line of questioning the way the firefighters did. Bottom line, if you guys aren't taking everything Pearl says as gospel, quit looking like you do.
And on the subject of their contract, what some here refuse to see is that the object was to bring them to median and stop the transfers out. It costs more to hire and train than it does to bring them up to speed. Regardless of where the money was coming from, they HAD to get raises, contradictory as that sounds.
Nothing from nothing, but after two months of a state budget stalemate, wouldn't it behooove everyone to look into any kind of a way to end the stand off instead of prolonging the budget agony? Abandon ideology in favor of an idea?
Let's start adding up all these new proposed taxes: a sales tax, the LBUSD bond measure, the city infrastructure bond, the utilities raising their prices/taxes... the list goes on and on.
At some point the politicos need to realize that they can't just keep spending money because there is a limited supply. The citizen just can't afford all of these fees and increases. Maybe those of you who work for the city and are members of the "$100,000 club" (1 in 7 city workers!) can afford it, but what about the rest of us?
People who don't work in the isolated and protected world of the city staff have to deal with real life scenarios like lay offs and lack of medical insurance, etc.
This is the problem with all the proposed increases, they don't take into reality what the average consumer is facing in today's economic times. The city needs to face this same reality--it's serious belt tightening time, not time to embark on a huge spending venture.
Or how about "LBReport.com is an independent media outlet for the people of Long Beach. Our publisher isn't part of the advocacy team of the LB Area Chamber of Commerce nor is one of our principals a likely City Council candidate. Our only agenda is to provide the citizens of Long Beach with timely, accurate and relevant information." Say what?? Part of an advocacy team? What is he talking about? A candidate for council? Why is this even necessary to say?
I'll tell you why. Because our 56 year old former lawyer Pearl has a junior high school grudge against another blog, and he's making semi-sly digs at the site owners. Pretty mature, eh? And the District Weekly wants to align themselves with this type of stuff?
Then there's the Olympic symbol in the form of handcuffs he's appropriated from another website. Pearl has this fantasy he's an honest to God journalist because well, he says he is! So he links to to other sites he feels legitimizes him.
But don't get me wrong. I admire his spirit. He's got a real interest in the community that no one can question, misguided though it might be. But try as he might, he's not a "journalist". It's like a guy who's got a newstand on the corner selling all the major publications saying in a bar he's got connections to all the top periodicals. Pearl's got a website that masquerades as a news outlet, and a slanted one at that. It lessens any prestige the District Weekly has to blindly follow along.
So which department at the city do you work for Duke? You seem to have an awful lot vested in no one questioning the mayor's parcel tax.
Do you live in LB, or just work here?
I want to know if you'd be paying this tax too, or just expecting LB residents to do it.
There would be nothing wrong with Pearl's dissent if he got his facts correct. What does is report his opinion as fact, and that's simply irresponsible.