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Way to go BIG OIL!

In her defense for not writing about the fortune being spent by special interests to reelect incumbent Mary Peipho, Vorderbrueggen says:

- she was going to get to it
- she has written hundreds of stories about Independent Expenditures
- her deadline kept her from getting necessary documents
- “professional journalists” don’t work weekends before an important local election
- “I’m just one person”

Well, why wait to report on the fortune special interests are spending on a single Supervisor race? Should it wait until after the election as a pointless wrapup exercise the Times is so known for?

Hundreds of stories on IEs? Whether or not this factoid is true (which I believe it isn’t), it’s not the point. For even if she had written all of those stories, then why, on her blog’s May 21 post, did she so blithely gloss over mention of the East Bay Business Coalition (see comment #1)— the elephant in the living room of Contra Costa politics—as if she knew nothing about them? Does it have anything to do with a close relationship with one of its directors?

Maybe Lisa chose not to report about the corrupting influence of $219,798 on a single race because, instead, her cohort of Democrat girl friend supporters of Mary Piepho (Bielle Moore, Tomi Vanderbrook, Mary Jo Rossi) had her ear. Why on earth write about the bigger picture when you can instead lead readers on a merry chase into the minutiae of “he- said she-said” tit-for-tat in the mailers without ever thinking to ask who is paying for them. Lisa made damn sure her readers knew the Sheriff spent $12,500 of his own money, but she didn’t report on the $219,798! What’s wrong with that picture? Yet, Vorderbrueggen insists that it is “absurd” to suggest that she “missed” the story.

As for the deadlines, Vorderbrueggen is at least disingenuous if not misleading when she says the Independent Expenditure documents were unavailable or buried in an 8-inch deep heap. The documents I used to show the originally posted amount of $215,000, were faxed to the County elections office starting May 17, on May 23, and May 28. A form 496 showing an additional $4,500 showed up 5/31 and another $23M was faxed after the 5:00 p.m. Friday deadline from Sacramento on behalf of Quality Government (read Chevron/Tesoro). But this last amount could be easily deduced from the previous forms and the very public knowledge that there were three mailings showing up in voters’ mailboxes, not the two whose expense had already been reported.

A professional reporter knows that one does not have to go through the stacks of candidate filings but go directly to the Independent Expenditure filing forms in the much smaller stack THAT ARE UPDATED CONTSTANTLY. Vorderbrueggen is trying to pull the wool over the public’s eye to make it sound so complex and daunting. It is an outright falsehood that these documents weren’t available. Vorderbrueggen could have easily had all the documents needed to write about the big-money corruption on Thursday in plenty of time for her deadline. But we got girl friend inspired “he-said she-said,” instead.

I don’t know. Maybe a Times reporter was getting hand fed “he-said she-said” from her gal pals or some tasty “wait…I will get you something quick from Bickert to counter the Sheriff’s piece.” Maybe not. Doesn’t matter. What matters is, after all the excuses, Vorderbrueggen consciously decided to report on the twigs instead of the forest burning.

I’m just one person, too. And here’s the story.

To date, BIG OIL, Developers and Realtors have contributed $219,798 to smear Guy Houston and support incumbent District 3 Supervisor, Mary Nejedly Piepho, via campaign mailers, 4×8 signs, internet sites, and e-mail blasts. This does not include monies and phone-banking from public employee unions. All of these special interests have critical business before the Contra Costa Board of Supervisors (BOS). No wonder they are going all out to make sure they continue to have Piepho’s support. Taxpayers be damned as special interests protect a BOS that will treat Chevron with kid gloves, help Tom Koch build New Farm and entertain dozens of other developer inspired Urban Limit Line loopholes, not to mention rolling over during public employee union contract negotiations.

Could it be that this huge amount of money is probably more important to our polity than the distraction Vorderbrueggen has whipped up over dissecting each campaign mailer. This money will effect the future of Contra Costa County in so many ways: the Urban Limit Line, Prop 90, negotiations with the refineries concerning taxes, jobs, safety, and pollution, fiscal solvency, not to mention upcoming union negotiations, to name just a few critical items the Board of Supervisors must manage in the interest of taxpayers not the interests of campaign contributors.

Unfortunately, Lisa Vorderbrueggen doesn’t want you to know this number which is available at the County. She made damn sure Contra Costa Times readers knew Sheriff Rupf spent $12,500 of his own money on his mailer denouncing Piepho. But she chose not to spill the beans about the outrageous money being spent to defeat Guy Houston by her girl friends who not only have her ear but direct hundreds of thousands of dollars of PAC money and Independent Expenditures to keep a pliant Mary Nejedly Pieho in office.

Shame on Lisa Vorderbrueggen who has squandered the public’s trust.

Shame on the Contra Costa Times for allowing such unchecked bias.

Contra Costans deserve the truth. Not just what a bent reporter decides is in the best interest of her gal pals.

Time for full disclosure, Lisa!

Here Let me help.

CLICK HERE FOR INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURE DOCUMENTS LISA VORDERBRUEGGEN AND THE CONTRA COSTA TIMES FAILED TO REPORT

SEE PRESS RELEASE

UPDATE

Total as of 5.31.08
Realtors 40808.60
EB 103990.04
Big Oil 75000
Total 219,798.64

This is what it costs to buy Mary Piepho. Not a cheap date!

http://www.contracostatimes.com/contracostacounty/ci_9407766

* Committee for Quality Government, sponsored by Energy Companies, Richmond, CA