LAAG's reply to the City's comments in the Press Telegram 12-15-08

Most of our loyal readers (and many new ones) saw the 12/15/08 Press Telegram feature written about our site. Of course the city of Lakewood was queried about the site. LAAG wanted an opportunity to address some of the comments made by Councilman Rogers in the article. And of course as we have many times before, we offer the city space on our pages to offer rebuttals to what they feel is inaccurate on our site. To date the city has not taken us up on that offer.

With respect to the March 2009 city council election candidate filing dates not being not well publicized, on that issue, Councilman (excuse me, vice mayor) Todd Rogers says there was an announcement about incumbents seeking re-election on the front page of the Lakewood Community, a Chamber of Commerce Publication that goes to every home in the city. "It clearly told everybody in town that there was an election," Rogers said.

We found the November 2008 issue of the Lakewood Chamber of Commerce newspaper. (we are not sure of the date when it was actually distributed) Again this is the paper that most people throw directly into the trash after it sits on their lawn for a few days. Each month it has a puff piece written by the "mayor" (or likely some ghost writer) or some other councilperson talking about some "issue" (a real or fake one). In November one small article was about how the three incumbents were "kicking off" their March 2009 re-election "campaigns" with a 100 person dinner (wonder who paid for that?) at city hall (attended by you guessed it all the politicos and fireworks sellers that would have been voting for them in March 2009, along with our special friend Sheriff Baca!) NO WHERE in the article did it mention any deadlines for nominations or anything about that rather complicated process whatsoever. The Press Telegram ran no story at all (as they had no reporter for Lakewood at the time) nor was there any hint of a deadline on the city website. Why? Well if you are running for re-election the last thing you want to do is call a deadline to the attention of your potential opponents (like LAAG did) So yes there was hint of an "election" in the air, but as we said the city did everything it could to "hide" the nomination deadline to insure the three candidates would be a shoe in. And it worked.

Rogers, stated in the article that "city government is 'open', despite some of the assertions he has read [on LAAG]" and that "The city of Lakewood doesn't do anything in secret...". Well if hidden in the clerks office is your definition of open then I guess it is "open" (but only from 9-5 pm) But most folks dont walk into city hall every day for their news. They read news papers and now the web. So if you dont want people to know something just post it on a bulletin board in the clerks office. How many of you have read the bulletin board in the clerks office in the last year? LAAG believes in transparency in government as its our money they are wasting. "...Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants..." [Justice Louis D. Brandeis] We have a whole section devoted to government transparency. The reason governments dont want to post too much on the web is that people might actually see it, copy it (like LAAG) and start asking questions which politicians find "hard to answer". I think Long Beach Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske agrees.

Rogers also stated in the article that what the city does is "...based on the surveys and feedback we get from the community..." Well I saw two surveys on the Lakewood website and only very brief summaries at that with no specific questions asked. The last survey date we saw was 2006. LAAG plans to do some surveys as well and you can be sure when we do we will post them. The point being that only about 2,700 people vote in city council elections out of 80,000 residents. So how many of those polled do you really think are clued in about specific problems in the city?

As Campbell Brown recently said on CNN.com: "It goes without saying, the media is annoying. It is the media's job to be annoying. Especially those members of the media assigned to cover the president. Or in this case the president-elect. Their role is not to support [the City council] President-elect Barack Obama, but to challenge him, to do their best to hold him accountable."

If you want to read cheerleader "puff pieces" about the City and the City Council then read the city's website or those from the Lakewood Chamber of Commerce "throw away" "news"paper that comes out once a month. There are plenty of places to find that kind of news. Not here.

We don't think Lakewood is a bad city nor the city council the worst. There are much worse. But there are much better too. We need to strive for improvement. We think this site is one way of encouraging change by trying to make the city more "transparent" or calling foul when everyone else is too afraid to or have given up on dealing with city hall as it is. And who could blame them.

Mr Rogers concluding dismissive comments about LAAG in the Press Telegram article: "...[LAAG's] views are out of sync with the majority of residents. As an example, he cited [LAAG's] suggestion at a City Council meeting to look into the possibility of creating a city police department.." Well again you have to realize that Rogers is a sheriff captain (top person in the substation) in Carson and it sends shivers down his spine when you dare to criticise the sacred cow that signs his paychecks. The point LAAG was making (the context of which is when LASD totally dropped the ball on the Dunrobin explosion in March 2006 by its own admission) was that the city just accepted what the LASD fed them. It was the city council that had to hold the LASD accountable. It clearly had not and LAAG felt that the reason was that the LASD offered Lakewood its services on a "take it or leave it basis" and to get some competition on LASD's 9 million a year contract the city should get bids from other police agencies that offer contract law enforcement. Of course carving out a piece of LASD "territory" would be about as likely as Rogers "Lakewood school district" fantasy becoming a reality. Talk about out of sync.

We agree that LAAG is out of sync with the status quo and we aren't going to change one bit!

Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA
A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™

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Web site keeps watch on Lakewood government

from the Long Beach Press Telegram
12/14/2008 edition

Steve [the LAAG editor] does not consider himself an investigative reporter.

"I am not a great writer," he says. "I kind of hack my way through it."

But he sees a place in the local media landscape for his not-for-profit news Web site, www.laag.us.

The site is the online voice of Lakewood Accountability Action Group, a residents group that organized in the aftermath of a March 2006 house explosion caused by an illegal fireworks stash.

"I am not a true news source," Steve, a former City Council candidate, says. "We're sort of a commentary site."

Indeed the site's slogan, "Times change, politics don't," is a play on the Lakewood city motto, "Times change, values don't."

Commentary aside, there is plenty of information - some would call it citizen journalism - on the LAAG site.

A recent post bemoans how no one challenged three City Council incumbents seeking re-election in March 2009.

Another story asks questions about the delay of the Costco store planned for Lakewood Center.

Favorite topics include government pensions, public employee unions, travel by public officials, the L.A. County Sheriff's Department, redevelopment, noise, zoning, traffic safety, utilities and, of course, one of Lakewood's oldest issues and most explosive issues - legal fireworks.

"That's why I support independent journalism," Steve says. "Everyone talks about national and state politics but no one talks about local issues."

Content comes from LAAG e-mail and phone tips from residents, business owners and city sources.

"People come to us to see if we can help them with problems," Steve, says.

A Lakewood resident since 1964, Steve says he started the site because public information that should be easily accessible sometimes is not.

"I say they like to hide stuff in plain view," he says. "One of my big topics is open government. I'd like to see more transparency."

An example, LAAG says, is the spring election.

LAAG says the candidate filing dates were not well publicized.

On that issue, Councilman Todd Rogers says there was an announcement about incumbents seeking re-election on the front page of the Lakewood Community, a Chamber of Commerce Publication that goes to every home in the city.

"It clearly told everybody in town that there was an election," Rogers said.

Another LAAG post on the topic criticized the city's low voter turnout, saying it amounted to government appointments made by the community's most influential members.

"Even Iraq has elections!" the post states.

LAAG is nonpartisan, and the organization does not consider itself liberal or conservative.

"We're anti-stupid spending," Steve says. "We like small government, which is what Lakewood is supposed to be, as a contract city, but we don't like waste, and we don't like secrecy."

Rogers, the city's vice mayor, counters the notion of secrecy. He says that city government is open, despite some of the assertions he has read online.

"I think our City Council does a pretty good job, and we have a history of honest, stable, responsive government," Rogers says. "And that's not going to change any time soon."

In addition to original content, LAAG picks up news stories from the Press-Telegram, Los Angeles Times and other media, but national and global topics are avoided.

Lakewood City Hall has taken notice.

"The biggest visitor to my site is the city of Lakewood," LAAG says of its online tracking that shows a few hits from City Hall on a typical day. He gets about 100 hits every week day.

Lakewood city spokesman Don Waldie says that LAAG's viewpoints are welcome in the "marketplace of ideas."

"In an open, democratic society with robust political institutions, local government wants to hear every opinion," he says.

Before the electronic age, Waldie says traditional media have challenged City Hall positions. The now-defunct Lakewood Clarion was known to take shots.

"LAAG's blog fits into a long tradition of talking about what local government does and why it does what it does," Waldie says.

But most important, Rogers says, is that constituents are, in his estimation, pleased with city government.

He believes LAAG's views are out of sync with the majority of residents. As an example, he cited LAAG's suggestion at a City Council meeting to look into the possibility of creating a city police department.

"The city of Lakewood doesn't do anything in secret, based on the surveys and feedback we get from the community," says Rogers, who is a captain at the Sheriff's station in Carson. "I think we're tuned into what the community wants, what the community values are, and they seem to trust and be happy with their government."

Rogers says he responds to inquiries from LAAG and is comfortable with criticism that goes with being on the council.

But he doesn't always like what he reads on the LAAG site.

"I think Lakewood's pretty transparent," he says. "I think a lot of his criticisms are unfair, and some of them are not true."

LAAG does not accept advertising.

"We're not interested in taking ads from some local businesses," says LAAG, a corporate consultant by day. "Every time you start taking ads, you get into the issue about advertisers complaining about things."

john.canalis@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1273


Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA
A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™

click here to receive LAAG posts by email