Delicious irony. Much-maligned former SBC District Attorney John Sarsfield received an award from the Society of Professional Journalists for his efforts to restore openness to San Benito County government.
In a March 13 ceremony in San Francisco, Sarsfield was awarded the SPJ's James Madison Freedom of Information award. He was the only public official in NorCal to receive the award. Thanks to Inside San Benito for providing all the details.
[at left: former San Benito County D.A. John Sarsfield, Freedom of Information award winner]
From the SPJ web site: "As district attorney of San Benito County, John Sarsfield did something unheard of for someone in his position: He sought to prosecute the county board of supervisors for violating the Brown Act, the state law providing for openness in government meetings. Sarsfield launched an investigation after a complaint that the board had met illegally in closed session; the board later cut off his funding in retaliation. The Brown Act lacks an enforcement mechanism, and a DA’s decision to prosecute is entirely discretionary. In other words, it never happens. Sarsfield is being honored for valuing open government enough to put his position on the line by tackling a politically sensitive violation."
As expected, no mention of Sarsfield's award was made in the local newspapers (the Hollister Free Pants and The Pineackle). According to Sarsfield, a Free Pants reporter interviewed him about the award, but the story was killed before it could be published. The irony is perfect: Former D.A. Sarsfield wins the SPJ's Freedom of Information award and the local newspaper chain (Mean Street Media) censors that information.
Winning a prestigious Freedom of Information award was not newsworthy enough for the ultra-happenin' Hollister newspapers. But it did merit mention in the San Francisco Bay Guardian:
... Sarsfield upset the political applecart when he tried to prosecute the County Board of Supervisors for ignoring the Brown Act's prohibitions on private communication and consensus building among board members on matters that involved employment decisions, personnel appeals, contracting, and land use–growth control issues.
His decision didn't sit well in a county where battles over the future of the land have spawned Los Valientes, a secret society that has targeted slow-growth advocates and anyone who gets in its way — including believers in open government. So the board retaliated by defunding Sarsfield's office, forcing the DA to file for a temporary restraining order against the board, the county administrative officer, and the county auditor, a countermove that kept his office operating and the investigation alive — until he lost his reelection bid to the board's chosen candidate in January 2006.
[Hollister, CA: San Benito County seat, Los Valientes base of operations, and home to two feeble newspapers]
Sarsfield's Freedom of Information award does not change the situation in SBC, where a skulking band of weasels (formerly known as Los Valientes) continues to wield its negative influence on SB government, and the local news media enables the situation by ignoring it. But the real puppet masters in SBC are the landowners and development interests who regard it their birthright to profit massively from unrestricted growth -- principles of smart growth and environmental considerations be damned.
Still, if it hadn't been for Sarsfield, and former Pineackle ace reporter Kate Woods, and some watchdog blogging by Brian Conroy at Inside San Benito, we wouldn't know how deeply the weasels have infiltrated the board of supervisors, the SBC Republican party, the SBC bar association, and local city governments. And the puppet masters would be even less accountable.
A debt of gratitude is owed to Kate Woods. Her consistent reporting on the plague of corruption in SBC garnered several awards from her journalism peers. But these journalistic credentials weren't valued by "Censorin" Steve Staloch, local print media potentate. In February of 2006, Staloch snuffed Woods' investigation of Los Valientes at the behest of Richard Place, a candidate for county supervisor who didn't like the truth that Woods was reporting. Staloch made sure that Pinnacle editor Mark Paxton and Gilroy Dipsack editor Mark Derry kept Woods away from investigative reporting that would embarrass the weasel mob. (See: Mainstreet Media hides the negative truth, All the news that's fit to censor, The Silencing of Kate Woods, and other San Benito Nation postings.) Eventually Woods grew tired of her in-house exile and moved on. Our loss.
"I was truly surprised to get the award," writes Sarsfield. "It was an unbelievable honor. Finally, someone besides you, Brian, and Kate recognized what outrages were occurring in San Benito County, aided and abetted by MSM [Mean Street Media]."
[at left: Kate Woods and the three-headed censoring machine -- MSM publisher Censorin' Steve Staloch, Pineackle editor Mark Paxton, and Dipsack editor Mark Derry]
As reported in a November, 2007 Mercury News investigation titled "Fury on the Range" that leveraged Woods' investigations (read part 1 and part 2 here), Sarsfield paid a personal and professional price for exposing corruption on the San Benito County board of supervisors. But while the Merc's story helped to expose Los Valientes, the paper missed the main issue -- the local newspaper chain's complicity in the corruption and incompetence plaguing SBC.
Final note: When "Fury on the Range" revealed the LV story for the entire Bay area to see, Pinnacle editor Paxton whined: "To use a broad brush to paint the community in terms of good vs. evil, black vs. white ignores that we're considerably more complicated than that." Typical response from the human doormat. Instead of following the story, Paxton stuck his head in the sand. We wouldn't expect anything less from one of Staloch's minions.
It's the way things work in SBC. Don't laugh Gilroy, the same shit is going down in your town. You just don't have a John Sarsfield or a Kate Woods to tell you about it.
How is this for more irony. LV founder Richard Place and his politico pals from Gilroy are trying to start a bank in Gilroy/Morgan Hill known as "Pinnacle Bank." I wonder if they know that one of their "community leaders" on the bank staff is an LVer?
Posted by: Quando | 05 April 2007 at 08:58 PM