Bullfight

Dan,

Since I haven't subscribed to the ER in a while I don't get the opportunity to read Little's drool so thanks for pointing out that editorial. It really didn't seem like an editorial against outsourcing but against the Planning Commission. I think it was outsourced because whoever wrote it doesn't understand the public process. I think the same person writes about all community processes here in Chico the same way - he/she/it says that they are all a waste of time and feels resentful that he/she/it has to pay their reporter to sit through it all. Given the inaccurate news stories about these public meetings I can only assume that their diligent reporters spend most of the meetings toking up in the lobby or sleeping in the room because the stories and the editorials that come out of these meetings never seem to be what happened at the meeting, I can only assume that the reporters are high, asleep, or living in India watching a low-resolution webcast.

I am outsourcing my drive by trolling here on Norcal Blogs. From now on, any posts you see by "tasker" will actually be from a fine young fellow in Delhi.

Tom,

I'm amazed at the subtlety of your opinions about the E-R. I wonder why you hold back your feelings. :-)

But it's interesting that you bring up Little's criticism of the Planning Commission. Little wrote:

"For example, on Thursday night I watched the Chico Planning Commission meeting on television. It was the longest, most ridiculous, most incompetent display I'd seen since ... the last Planning Commission meeting. And I couldn't believe our reporter, Jenn Klein, had to waste eight hours of her life trying to make sense out of that slop."

While the public process is far from perfect, when we're dealing with multiple interests in the community, it's the best process we have.

I'm not as cynical as Little about these sometimes long and arduous meetings, despite the fact that I've sat through too many to count.

Trust me, there are times when I want to bang my head against the wall after public hearings, but then I remind myself that I'd rather see engaged Commissioners and community members.

I've learned to accept that when a community grapples with tough issues, I expect lots of opinions and interests to be added to the mix.

I may not like what some people have to say. But these are public hearings at which projects should receive scrutiny since the community must live with these land use decisions for 50 to 100 years or beyond.

While I'm a supporter of Meriam Park, I also recognize that it's one of the largest developments in Chico. I can see why the Planning Commission didn't make a decision during the initial hearing given the scope of the project.

One of the Commission's job is to "vet" projects before they come to the Council so that ultimately all potential issues are resolved or at least highlighted before the Council makes a final decision.

Hey Dan -

Capacity to withstand criticism for unfair reporting or editorials.

I like that :).

I'd also add:

Ability to equate liberal molehills with conservative mountains; e.g., equating the influence of a couple hundred dollars in liberal donations with tens of thousands in developer contributions. Must defend your position while keeping a straight face.

Ability to insert liberal blame in most or all editorials, no matter how unfair or untrue.

Craigslist removed the fictitious job announcement. Thank goodness. But here's the original listing:

Date: 2007-05-13 00:31:32
Title: (writing jobs) Newspaper Seeks Outsourced Editor
LOCATION: Irrelevant, but outsourced editor must have high-speed Internet access and phone.

QUALIFICATIONS:

Ability to speak and write in English.

Capacity to withstand criticism for unfair reporting or editorials.

Flexiblity to work in office environment with few windows.

RESPONSIBILTIES:

Formulates editorial policy and directs operation of newspaper.

Confers with editorial policy committee and heads of production, advertising, and circulation departments to develop editorial and operating procedures and negotiate decisions affecting publication.

Appoints editorial heads and supervises work of their departments in accordance with newspaper policy.

Writes leading or policy editorials or notifies editorial department head of position to be taken on specific public issues.

Reviews financial reports and takes appropriate action with respect to costs and revenues.

* Compensation: More than members of the City Council or School Board earn
* Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this job poster.
* Please, no phone calls about this job!
* Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.