This week's feedback

Clarification

In our Sept. 2 editorial, we reported that state Assemblymember Marty Block failed to cast a vote when the Assembly voted on prison reform. Block spokesperson David Glanzer responded by sending us a document showing that Block voted against the bill. However, CityBeat also has possession of a document showing that he was among several members who didn’t cast a vote. Both documents say “unofficial ballot.” Block’s spokesperson couldn’t explain the document on which we based our editorial. We asked what time Block cast his vote, wondering if maybe he’d voted no only after seeing that the bill had enough votes to pass. Glanzer replied: “I honestly don’t know what time he cast his vote. However, he did cast his vote when the vote came up and it is recorded as being a no vote.”

So long, Bob

So, Bowtie Bob is gone [“Editorial,” Aug. 19]. Man, where do I start? Muckraker, charlatan, sanctimonious, demagogue, pompous, arrogant, irritation? Any joy I might feel is tempered by the fact that he was laid off and not fired. There was once talk of protesting the U-T’s / Kittle’s influence over public policy. I was up for it, and at least a dozen slogans went through my mind; I settled on “Necktie For The Bowtie” with the thought of finding a doll with a crewcut that could be hung in effigy. Alas, the protest never got off the ground.

While reading CityBeat’s editorial, some of Kittle’s yellow journalism over the years ran through my mind. One of the most egregious was during the Frye-Sanders mayoral race. One day, Kittle wrote what was essentially a hit piece on Frye, accompanied by a Steve Breen rendering that made Frye look gaunt and older. The next day, a piece about Sanders described him in glowing terms, accompanied by a Breen depiction of Sanders looking like a kind uncle. If questioned about such treatment, Kittle would have undoubtedly claimed he was fair, that he covered both sides.

Perhaps most irritating is that even when the jury came in and the fallacies of causes he championed were exposed, Kittle still clung to erroneous opinion and spoke condescendingly of dissenters. Several years ago, in a televised lecture, I watched Kittle blame lawsuits by Bruce Henderson for the City-Chargers fiasco. In reality, Henderson tried to prevent disaster that even Mr. Magoo could see coming a mile away. I was incensed, canceled my U-T subscription the next day and haven’t subscribed since. With Kittle gone, I might give the U-T another chance, but my patience will be thin-skinned.

Your column “Homeless Person of the Week” was brilliant. Too often we think of homelessness in terms of numbers and statistics and not in terms of individual human beings with diverse stories and circumstances. You reminded us of that human element. Thank you very much.

‘Business,’ not ‘civic’

About your Aug. 26 “Spin Cycle” column on the mayor and his “kitchen cabinet”:

The mayor and his staff throw around the term “civic leadership” with ease, if not aplomb. Why aren’t they calling it what it really is: business leadership—and certain kinds of business leadership, not others.

The applicable definition of civic is: Of or relating to or befitting citizens as individuals. But the known list of names so far is dominated by those who are known for their business positions when it comes to civic participation. Let’s see the whole list just to see how the mayor defines civic. What the public at large can see so far is basic political spin.