Patch.com Sites to Shutter; Will OC be Affected?

 

newspaper

Patch.com has made a name for itself as a community news resource of sorts in more than 1,000 cities and towns across the nation.  But the financial realities of news sites have hit the organization hard and layoffs are coming next week.  According to Jim Romenesko, a media industry blogger, as many as half of Patch.com’s sites will be closed as the focus will be on “the most important sites,” and AOL’s CEO Tim Armstrong will take over day to day management of Patch.com.

It’s too soon to know if any of OC’s Patch.com sites will be hit.  One employee was fired five minutes into a conference call on the situation for taking out a camera.

From Romenesko’s story:

Armstrong told employees that he’s now in charge of Patch.

“Something at Patch has been missing and missing for some time and that’s leadership – leadership with a capital L,” he said.

Armstrong said his plan was to focus on the 500 most important towns. (There are nearly 1,000 Patch sites now.) Four-hundred towns will be partnered with other media companies or closed.

Patch, he added, is going to become a fast-moving company and a fast-moving partnership company.

“Twenty million people love Patch,” he said.

“To his credit,” writes another tipster who listened in on the call, “Armstrong took full responsibility for Patch sliding downhill.”

Romenesko reports that Patch sites in Georgia and California were hugely unprofitable and expect the lowest producing revenue sites to go first.

 

 

22 Comments

    • If you paid attention more you might find that we report on breaking news quite often. Sometimes we even beat you a the story. We’re not paid to do this, we do it in our spare time. Sorry if that isn’t enough for you.

  1. The local Patches, there aren’t many, haven’t been very effective. They won’t be missed. On the other hand, the Register’s local coverage hasn’t been much better.

  2. Wait, Pulido and company vote to pay a city manager $1.5 M over three Years, Matt Cunningham is promoting “adult entertainment”, The NSA is dying a slow death and you come up with a Patch.com post???

    I thought the “Can Anaheim support Comic Con?” was silly.

    I can’t wait to see whats next!

    • We don’t really care what Matt Cunningham does, because most intelligent people know a paid hack when they see one. We wrote bout the Santa Ana City manager’s pending hire. There has been significant coverage of his extraordinary compensation. I suspect we will cover that more later. After all, the guy doesn’t start till October.

      We will try to keep you entertained in the mean time.

      • Chris took the words out of my mouth. I would ask you to cite the reference of Matt Cunningham promoting adult entertainment. OC Weekly does via ads and includes Best Strip Club in its Best of OC awards. But I went back through several pages of posts on Anaheim Blog and failed to see any reference to him promoting adult entertainment.

        • I just saw the post on OJ about Matt. Wow, pretty libelous considering if Matt worked for a corporation that owned one restaurant and he had nothing to do with other business entities doesn’t warrant the charge that Vern is making.

          Journalistically sloppy of OJ

  3. Mr Chmielewski

    One of Cunningham’s points in his rebuttal to Vern’s posting is this statement:

    “Vern Nelson claims (and in his telling, so does Cynthia Ward), that OC Restaurant Group owns the California Girls clubs. That is false. It does not. The client I represented, OC Restaurant Group dba The Tilted Kilt, owns The Tilted Kilt in Orange. That’s it.”

    It happens that OC Restaurant Group is located at 807 Brookhurst St, and one of the Girls Club is at 815 Brookhurst St. They could be different entities, but if they are the same, then your buddy Cunningham is not being straightforward.

    In addition to the validity of the allegations and the facts, which remains to be further clarified, what is relevant to me is your eagerness to come out defending Cunningham right away. He posted his rebuttal after 12:00 PM, but you had already questioned Vern’s post before 10:00 AM.

    I may understand that politics makes strange bedfellows, but your uncritical and “gentlemen” rapport with this hack is questionable.

    BTW, I am still waiting to know Brandman’s response why he appointed Edinger to the CAC committee. You were going to ask him based on the only conversation I had with you regarding Anaheim.

  4. Thank you, Dan. Too bad Vern Nelson and Cynthia Ward don’t share your intelligence and decency.

    This is the response I posted over at that fever swamp blog:

    The author of this post has four convictions for driving under the influence of alcohol, for which he had to serve several months in jail. That’s not “ambiguous” or an “assumption” on my part. That’s is the straight truth. And those are just the four times Vern Nelson was actually apprehended getting behind the wheel of a car while intoxicated. How many times did he endanger the lives of others when the police didn’t nab him?

    This post is a conscious attempt by Vern Nelson to defame my reputation. That’s why Vern wrote that headline the way he did, in hopes that anyone Googling me would be misled in thinking (falsely) that I work for strip clubs. Vern admits his intent to mislead: “No, there is not a new branch of California Girls in Orange that you hadn’t heard of, as my ambiguous opening paragraph suggested…”

    His account of my work for The Tilted Kilt in Orange is a gross misrepresentation and a mangling of truth. It is, in sum, a lie.

    Vern confirms the shrewish Cynthia Ward was his partner in this defamation attempt. That’s helpful to know. So much for her moral posturing being a “truth teller” (or much of a researcher, for that matter).

    The sad reality is it is more work to refute a lie than it is to tell one. And so it is here.

    Vern Nelson claims (and in his telling, so does Cynthia Ward), that OC Restaurant Group owns the California Girls clubs. That is false. It does not. The client I represented, OC Restaurant Group dba The Tilted Kilt, owns The Tilted Kilt in Orange. That’s it.

    Vern’s claim that the individual subject with the restraining order is an owner of California Girls is also false. Not only that, that individual’s involvement with the Tilted Kilt ended a number of months ago. Furthermore, and the alleged incidents to which Vern refers occurred several months after my work for Tilted Kilt ceased and have nothing to do with me — despite Vern’s sleazy attempt to link them to me.

    For those readers interested the truth, here it is: OC Restaurant Group was planning to open a Tilted Kilt franchise in a vacant restaurant building at The Stadium Promenade in Orange. [Tilted Kilt is a restaurant, not a bar. It does not specialize in “loud music” (as Vern falsely claims) but is sports-oriented with high-quality food and beverages.]

    This building had been vacant since the original occupant, Johnny Carino’s, closed in December 2008. During the intervening years, an attempt to open a Shakey’s pizza parlor in the building failed. [Vern Nelson claims in his post that anyone could have opened a successful restaurant at this location. Perhaps the impoverished business genius could explain why no had prior to the Tilted Kilt?]

    Last year, I was hired by OC Restaurant Group to represent them in obtaining approval for some modifications to the CUP for the site. Chiefly, they wanted to expand the small existing patio and extend the permitted hours of operation until 2:00 a.m. Monday through Sunday – a reasonable request since no other restaurant in the Stadium Promenade had its hours of operation limited by their CUPs. The requested change in operating hours leveled the competitive playing field, nothing more.

    Vern Nelson, naturally, twists the Orange Police Department’s position, and betrays his own ignorance of the City of Orange and the OPD’s traditional stance regarding the modification of CUPs for sites with an alcohol licenses. The OPD was not opposed to a patio per se — due to woeful research, Vern is unaware the vacant restaurant site already had a patio (albeit a small one).

    The Tilted Kilt want to expand the patio, which required modifying the CUP. The PD opposed expanding the patio because that would create additional square footage in the City of Orange where alcohol could be served.

    The OPD traditionally opposes applications before the Planning Commission that involve a new alcohol licenses or the expansion of existing alcohol service – period. During my years on the Orange Planning Commission, I can recall only one occasion in which they were supportive. The department also freely admits the Planning Commission usually does not agree with its recommendations of denial in such cases.

    Contrary to the Vern’s claim in his post, I was not hired to deal with the OPD’s opposition. In fact, the OPD did not come out in opposition until a few months AFTER I was retained.

    If Vern Nelson and Cynthia Ward had properly done their research — or had simply contacted me — they would have learned all this. They would have seen the memo I wrote to the Planning Commission rebutting the long OPD letter of opposition to my client’s requested CUP changes. Instead, Vern, with Cynthia Ward’s assistance, chose to recklessly misrepresent the matter in order to injure my reputation.

    The Planning Commission unanimously approved all but one requested modification. I am proud of my work for The Tilted Kilt in Orange, which has been a huge success. It is the most successful restaurant in the entire franchise. It’s success has benefited the other restaurants in the Stadium Promenade as it draws more and newer patrons into the center. It has been a rising tide that has lifted all boats in that center, and has not presented problems for the police.

    A POSTSCRIPT regarding Vern’s false representation of my Planning Commission service. It true I was pushed off (more than a year before being retained by the Tilted Kilt). But Vern claim that it was “for voting on matters affecting developers who were also paying him as a “consultant” is totally false – an absolute lie through-and-through and another example of reckless disregard for the truth. I never, as a planning commissioner, voted on a matter affecting a client. Never.

    Not only am I innocent of Vern’s false charge, but it was also not the reason my appointer, then-Councilman Jon Dumitru, wanted to remove me from the Planning Commission. His real reason was I did not support him over Mayor Carolyn Cavecche in his last-minute, suicidal challenge to her final re-election bid in 2010. He wanted to replace me with someone who would support him over Tita Smith when he ran against her for mayor in 2012.

    As it was, a majority if the City Council supported my resignation from the Planning Commission on my own terms, so I was not removed.

    Vern’s sleazy guilt-by-association post is just that. It’s ironic: Vern Nelson and Cynthia Ward constantly claim I have no credibility, and yet continue to expend considerable energy on false and malicious attempts to not only discredit me, but in this instance to defame me. Their sleaziness, disregard for the truth, the attempts to deliberately mislead readers, the numerous false and unsubstantiated claims he makes in an attempt to damage my professional and personal reputation — all the moral dreck they try to smear on me really attaches to them.

  5. Geez, don’t be so sensitive, Chris. The great Gustavo deigning to lay a comment on you should be enough.

    Too bad about The Patch. It looks like the writing is on the wall for the locals here in California. I find it hard to believe they are so unprofitable. But, I am sure the plethora of local unpaid blogs will be happy to pick up the slack… oh, and the OCW as well.

  6. Ricardo —
    Apologies for not getting back to you sooner.

    Matt and I are certainly never going to agree on everything political but Vern’s piece is journalistically unethical especially in his comments. Vern even went back a few years to find dirt on an owner and say “good thing he has Matt now” which strikes me as patently unfair.

    Thanks for posting the addresses of both the strip club and the offices of OC Restaurant Group on the same side of the street. Is the Dalati’s Inc. next to OC Restaurant Group’s office also tainted because they are two doors down from a strip club? What about the Goodyear Tire Center right next to the strip club? If Matt did some consulting work for them, does their location taint them?

    Matt’s work with OC Restaurant Group was restricted to work done for the Tilted Kilt, a chain restaurant, based in Orange, not Anaheim. He did no work for California Girls and even if the owner of OC Restaurant Group owned both establishments, to imply, as Vern did, that Matt took money from exploited strippers is a farce at best and libel at worst. Vern’s post has already been edited several times to adjust for text that doesn’t add up. Frankly, it’s an excuse for him to run a post featuring multiple photos of strippers working. If the shots are all from California Girls in Anaheim, that’s one thing. If it’s random stripper photos from the web, that’s journalistically dishonest.

    If you want to go after Matt Cunningham for his Anaheim blog, go ahead. There’s plenty of fodder to hit him on.

    Now I have enormous respect for Cynthia Ward and how Tom Tait is conducting himself here, but Vern’s post was simply an attempt to smear the opposition to drag them down to his level and Jason Young’s level. Quite frankly, the two biggest cheerleaders against the current city council are Nelson and Young who both have tainted personal records. If they truly want to help their side of the issue, let Ward and Tait do the heavy lifting and get in the ring. The more the public learns about Nelson and Young, the better the council majority looks.

    Tait ought to show some leadership, ask both of them to come into his office, and ask them if they want his efforts to succeed. If both answer yes, Tait ought to ask them to let others do the talking.

    Lastly, you made a point that no one was coming to defend Matt on the OJ blog. Defend him against a post that continues to change? A post that is in itself sleazy while calling Matt out as sleazy? A post with inaccuracies regarding how Matt left his commission post? A post written by a guy who did jail time with 4 DUIs? Oh and comments from Sgt. York, who was on the take for the Poizner campaign without disclosing it. And Gustavo chimes in too even though his publication needs every ad they get from those same Anaheim strip clubs, massage parlors, escort services and pot dispensaries. Moral high ground?

    I’ve written a number of pieces against members of Irvine’s Republican council majority. I ask for comment. Some chose not to and that’s fine. When they don’t comment, I go with the story. But I do ask and give them more than 72 minutes before I publish the piece. Vern never called Matt to verify a thing. Since the post has been edited several times, I’d say Matt has grounds for a defamation suit if he chose to go that route. What the post revealed is how sloppy Vern’s work can be at times. And this post was sloppy.

    I haven’t had a chance to speak with Jordan since our previous communication. My business commitments and other stories I am chasing are frankly more of a priority for me.

    My advice: let Cynthia Ward do her thing. She isn’t tainted, she has credibility, and she’s determined.

    But I have to ask Ricardo; have you ever been to the Hooters in Anaheim? The girls there wear less than the waitresses at the Tilted Kilt (they pass out coupons at the OC Scottish Festival so you know).

  7. http://www.ocregister.com/articles/restaurant-381655-open-orange.html

    Tilted Kilt, a “modern twist” to an English pub, opened its first Orange County restaurant this month in Orange.

    The 70-unit chain lures male diners with sexy female servers dressed in short kilts and bust-revealing cut-off blouses. Orange County franchisee Michael Ayaz, whose parents once operated Giovanni’s in Fullerton and Renata’s in Old Towne Orange, said the all-female server staff does provide a certain amount of “sex appeal” with their uniforms. However, once inside, he said diners will remember the restaurant’s great service and warm atmosphere.

    Tilted Kilt is a “modern twist” on an English pub, says Orange County franchisee Michael Ayaz. The all-female server staff provides “sex appeal” with their uniforms, Ayaz said. However, once inside, customers will remember the great service and warm atmosphere, he said. During a visit, servers were quite friendly, often sitting down in open chairs and chatting with male diners.

    “We hire exceptional people,” he said.

    The restaurant, in the same center as Lazy Dog Cafe, is outfitted with dozens of large, flat-panel TVs. Some are larger than 140 inches. Ayaz said the bar caters to a thirtysomething crowd – not college students.

    “We’re looking for an established (upscale) bar crowd,” Ayaz said.

    During a lunch visit over the weekend, I noticed the waitresses were indeed friendly. Many of them chatted for long periods with the diners as they watched NFL games on TVs that blanketed the walls of the 7,000-square-foot restaurant.

    “Initially, guests are drawn in for the girls. But what keeps them coming back is the great food, the selection of drinks and the unbeatable atmosphere,” said Tilted Kilt President Ron Lynch. “This is a modern sports pub that carries out the traditions of old-world pubs, one burger and one beer at a time.”

    Ayaz, a lawyer turned restaurateur, said he plans to open at least one or two more Tilted Kilts in the area.

    The Tilted Kilt is at 1625 W. Katella Ave., Orange.

  8. Mr Chmielewski, thanks for your response:

    It is bad enough that Cunningham has a political position opposing change, which he is entitled to, but it is his hypocrisy of pontificating and not being transparent that is censurable.

    Cunningham‘s blog is probably financed by public funds, through the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce administration of the city’s Enterprise Zone. Here he frames the arguments of the Chamber and his political patrons, and provides the talking points for their operatives. He brings up all the dirt which is later thrown against the people supporting council districts, opposing the giveaways. He demonizes opponents, smears them.

    The criticism of his involvement with the Tilted Kilt, and the journalistic ethics used to portray his participation are summarized here: … “The point of showing the California Girls connection is simple; Had Matt been working for businessmen he knew to be fine, upstanding, moral and upright members of the community with a strong background in well run hospitality service establishments, one might understand his belief that it is OK to dismiss the fears and concerns of OPD. But instead he helped the restaurant owners set aside the concerns of OPD, to the advantage of guys that are about as low on the business totem pole as it gets.”

    A definition of ethics in journalism states: … “Like many broader ethical systems, journalism ethics include the principle of “limitation of harm.” This often involves the withholding of certain details from reports such as the names of minor children, crime victims’ names or information not materially related to particular news reports release of which might, for example, harm someone’s reputation.[6][7](wikipedia)

    You, Mr Chmielewski, are reluctant to recognize the negative impact of Cunningham’s operation. It is not a question of going after his blog. It is a question of how his political positions and actions make the healing process of our city harder, how the policies of the people he shills for affect the lives of many people. In this regard, I find your position shameful.

    Is the connection to the ownership of the California Girls/Tilted Kilt relevant? Is this connection relevant to Cunningham, opposing the Orange DP concerns while smearing people in Anaheim for requesting that ADP change its insensitive culture towards Latinos? Isn’t Cunningham a paid hack, constantly trashing the reputation of his opponents? What is the ethical journalistic difference between Vern, with 4 DUIs, and spin-masters PR people like you and Cunningham?

  9. Wow Ricardo … quite a response with lots of questions….Here’s my rebuttal:

    It is bad enough that Cunningham has a political position opposing change, which he is entitled to, but it is his hypocrisy of pontificating and not being transparent that is censurable. ****Matt usually discloses when he represents someone. I haven’t into his disclosure on the Anaheim blog but I believe its pretty much known he is being paid to blog and this is one of the services he offers. I’m not sure how his lack of transparency is such an issue. And just who is going to censure him? And for what?******

    Cunningham‘s blog is probably financed by public funds (****or through Chamber membership dues; there is really no way to know*****), through the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce administration of the city’s Enterprise Zone. Here he frames the arguments of the Chamber and his political patrons, and provides the talking points for their operatives. (***I’m sure the Chamber’s PR staff does the exact same thing*****)He brings up all the dirt which is later thrown against the people supporting council districts, opposing the giveaways. He demonizes opponents, smears them. (***change a couple of words here and that is exactly what Vern’s piece did; so you’re OK with demonizing and smearing people who don’t agree with you?*****)

    The criticism of his involvement with the Tilted Kilt, and the journalistic ethics used to portray his participation are summarized here: … “The point of showing the California Girls connection is simple; Had Matt been working for businessmen he knew to be fine, upstanding, moral and upright members of the community with a strong background in well run hospitality service establishments, one might understand his belief that it is OK to dismiss the fears and concerns of OPD. But instead he helped the restaurant owners set aside the concerns of OPD, to the advantage of guys that are about as low on the business totem pole as it gets.” ****I linked to a OC Register story about the Tilted Kilt which got into the owner’s and his family’s background in running other restaurants in OC. Anaheim has more strip clubs than any other city in OC. If the “owners” of the club pay their taxes, located their businesses in areas they are zoned for, pay their permits and follow the rules, not sure how that places them low on the business totem and that doesn’t matter as Matt’s work for exclusively for the Tilted Kilt in Orange. Why didn’t the owner do that work himself? Heck, maybe he was too busy to do it. And who are you to decide the morality of a business owner. I think it’s immoral for Disney to charge an adult price for a nine year old, but seriously…your argument here is weak sauce****

    A definition of ethics in journalism states: … “Like many broader ethical systems, journalism ethics include the principle of “limitation of harm.” This often involves the withholding of certain details from reports such as the names of minor children, crime victims’ names or information not materially related to particular news reports release of which might, for example, harm someone’s reputation.[6][7](wikipedia) *****now take that and tell me if Vern’s post on Matt met that standard******

    You, Mr Chmielewski, are reluctant to recognize the negative impact of Cunningham’s operation. It is not a question of going after his blog. It is a question of how his political positions and actions make the healing process of our city harder, how the policies of the people he shills for affect the lives of many people. In this regard, I find your position shameful. ****How many people do you think actually read Matt’s blog? Have you done any research on readership or the number of unique monthly visitors he gets. I think you give his site and his work way more power and influence than it actually has. You have no idea what my position is; I’m actually more aligned with your side than Matt’s, but the champions on your side of the story — Vern and Jason — lack the very morality you seek from Matt. And they hurt your cause. I am surprised you don’t hold your nose at their efforts. But the simple solution is run candidates for office that will reflect your goals for the city.*****

    Is the connection to the ownership of the California Girls/Tilted Kilt relevant? ****No; not even close******Is this connection relevant to Cunningham, opposing the Orange DP concerns while smearing people in Anaheim for requesting that ADP change its insensitive culture towards Latinos? ***I fail to see how work Matt did for a Scottish Restaurant in Orange hurts Latinos in Anaheim******Isn’t Cunningham a paid hack (****he is a paid communicator who develops communications vehicles that advance the position of his clients; that is a completely legitimate business*****, constantly trashing the reputation of his opponents? ******which is exactly what Jason Young and Vern Nelson do for free ***********What is the ethical journalistic difference between Vern, with 4 DUIs, and spin-masters PR people like you and Cunningham?
    ****I’m not sure what you’re asking. Do you consider Matt a journalist? Is Vern one? Vern’s post has been changed several times suggesting it wasn’t ready for publishing. It seems to me the courts will ultimately decide how Anaheim’s districting issues are resolved. But I still haven’t seen or heard word one about what you, Vern, or Jason Young (the later two who don’t live in Anaheim since you want to go after Matt who lives in Orange) are going to do to register Latino residents to vote and actually get them out to the polls to cast a ballot. I’d like to know Ricardo how you feel about having multiple strip clubs in your city and what you are doing to have these businesses closed down? I’ll guess you haven’t done squat.

    Like I said before, Cynthia Ward and Tom Tait are your best options to get the residents of Anaheim to rally and affect change. If Vern and Jason Young are your champions, good luck to you.*****

  10. Mr Chmielewski

    Blogs generate ideas and sometimes these are translated into actions. A recent example was the removal of a philosopher at the University of Miami, after allegations of sexual harassment brought by a graduate student.” Many credit the blog What Is It Like to Be a Woman in Philosophy? Which in 2010 began posting anonymous stories of harassment, with helping to highlight the issue “(NYT 08/2013)

    Saying that Matt Cunningham (MC) is a known paid hack, and then we don’t care what MC does, as your colleague Chris states, is an easy way out. This position avoids addressing the practical actions to challenge negative policies. I ignored MC as much as possible. After seeing at the city council meetings how people were attacked with the talking points developed by MC in his blog, I came to the conclusion that his negative influence needed to be challenged. He has not disclosed yet that he is a paid “communicator” of the Chamber.

    “And who are you to decide the morality of a business owner” you ask me. I don’t decide the morality of business owners, but I can have an opinion. If a business is based on sex exploitation of minors or human trafficking, then what? I do not know if the owners of the Kilted Kilt/California Girls are in involved in this type of activities. Your link to the OC Register,” Pub with sex appeal opens in Orange,” is a PR piece, it is not a journalistic article. It does not cover the questionable aspects presented by Vern.

    Vern and Jason are not my heroes, Mayor Tait and Cynthia are not my heroes. I appreciate them. I highly appreciate the courage of Mayor Tait and Cynthia. My heroes are people like Don Amin David, Yesenia Rojas, the OCCORD and OCCOCA people, and many other current and past community organizers.

    I do not think that Vern has demonized MC. MC had already an established questionable reputation, one of them of consistently, I repeat consistently, thrashing the reputations of political opponents. I wonder whether you have been categorized as demonizing opponents. Your statement guessing that “I haven’t done squat to register Latino residents to vote and actually get them out to the polls to cast a ballot” sounds to me like …demonizing? I find it at least insulting.

    Mr Chmielewski we should move on to another subject, like soccer and Chivas USA. I invited you to read my piece on soccer in the OJB. Not visiting other blogs, especially the one that share some similar values, does not contribute to the generation of alternatives.

    Chris, I am interested in your opinion on the subjects covered in these conversations.

  11. Ricardo —
    Paragraph #1, I agree; blogs can make a difference and this one has on a number of instances.

    #2: Pronouns Ricardo; pronouns. Who is attacking who using Matt’s talking points? Are council members attacking speakers? You have a tool to counter this with public comments at the meetings themselves. I believe the fact Matt is paid to manage this blog is an open secret, so if he discloses he’s paid, just what does that do exactly? I haven’t avoided anything. You have a number of ways to challenge things Matt writes in a number of different outlets. Simply telling you that you’re doing a bad job isn’t a cop out, it’s being honest with you.

    If you think California Girls is engaged in human trafficking or sex exploitation of minors, ask the strippers how old they are they next time you’re there and then call the cops. That’s a real stretch to suggest Matt is somehow shilling for a business that sexually exploits children or is engaged in criminal activity. That reporter from the Register is a restaurant reviewer and I’ll be happy to let her know you think she writes PR pieces. That’s a legitimate news story written with …facts; I’m sorry you can’t tell the difference. One could argue ESPN engages in sexploitation when they switch from the football game to jiggle shots of cheerleaders….You actually took Vern’s contentions a little further by suggesting Matt is working for a business that sexually exploits minors and engages in human trafficking; how sleazy of you.

    Happy to know who yours heroes are; they did a bang up job getting Latinos out to vote in the last election. Your city has a majority of residents who are Latino and Democrats and you only have one Democrat and no Latinos on the council. Why do you suppose that is? How about recruiting some candidates? Creating a PAC? Running yourself?

    Vern did to matt everything you accuse Matt of doing. If you don’t see that, sorry, I can’t help you. And if you’re insulted, tough. What do you do to register Latinos and want to do you do to get them to the polls on election day. There were Latino candidates on the ballot last time.

    I visit other blogs all the time; I don’t always choose to comment there.

    I recall no invitation to read any piece about Chivas USA and soccer from you on OJ Blog. Chivas USA is a terrible team, with terrible players, terrible coaches and terrible management. There are the subject of several lawsuits regarding the manner ins which non-Latino employees are treated. The model of the parents club in Mexico will not work at the MLS level and the box office for Chivas USA home games validates my contentions. In many respects, Chivas USA is the worst professional franchise in any sports league in the US.

    I’m a Team USA fan and I root for the Galaxy.

  12. You can ask Mary Ann Gaido, Mike Mang, Tim Carpenter about my participation on political campaigns, when I used to live in south OC. You can read about my involvement in the current Anaheim issues in the essays I posted in the OJB. I attended most of the city council candidates’ forums to educate myself, I walked precincts for several days. I advocate and volunteer to register people to vote. I have spoken at the city council meetings.

    The lack of transparency of this paid “communicator”, Cunningham, presenting the views of his patrons, the Chamber and the council majority, and providing the talking points to the SOAR operatives, is something you pretend not to recognize. No wonder you are considered a professional spin master.

    The questionable business background of the KT/CG owners, and the role played by your buddy MC in overcoming the OPD objections, while pontificating in Anaheim about not questioning the APD, is the bottom line of this issue.

    I am disappointed by you, not because we disagree or because I may be wrong, but for your vicious personal disqualification of calling me sleazy for following your logic on the morality of business owners. I have experienced worst things than being insulted for participating in politics. I will take a deep breath, and continue being involved in the civic affairs.

    I thought that Brandman was an anomaly of Liberals, but now I realize that the business/corporate influence on Liberals extends beyond the elected officials.

  13. Was that so hard? And despite your impressive efforts and participation, the council is 4-1 Republican-controlled. Fortunately, there’s more than an year before the next election and hopefully your GOTV efforts will pay off. Anaheim needs to be Blue. No doubt in my mind.

    But for a moment, let’s say Matt Cunningham does disclose he’s being paid by the chamber for his blog. So what. It’s already been exposed or written about elsewhere. Just what do you expect this disclosure to change exactly? If the Chamber and SOA wants to pay a professional to help them with their communications, that is a legitimate service being provided. And you really need to fight fire with fire and develop your own talking points. There are plenty of public affairs pros out there who can help you do this. Expect to pay them.

    As far as the “sleazy” comment goes, I stand by it. You flat out said California Girls, a business Matt did NO work for whatsoever, was engaged in human trafficking and sexual exploitation of minors. Got any proof of that or any proof Matt knew of this and did work for the owners anyway? That, sir, is sleazy. And you should be offended not by me for calling you out on it but for your words. Tale responsibility for what you say. Because what you tried to say is bull.

    I am a pro-business Democrat. I have no problems with government making investments in business activities that will generate good jobs at good wages. I do not support widely profitable businesses like Disney influencing a light rail system that benefits them and asking the taxpayers to pick up the tab. I don’t support corporate welfare to the highly profitable oil industry while they make record profits. But government does have a role in economic development that can foster business activity that creates jobs and builds the supply chain of small businesses that crop up to support new business growth.

  14. This is what I said :

    “And who are you to decide the morality of a business owner” you ask me. I don’t decide the morality of business owners, but I can have an opinion. If a business is based on sex exploitation of minors or human trafficking, then what? I do not know if the owners of the Kilted Kilt/California Girls are in involved in this type of activities. Your link to the OC Register,” Pub with sex appeal opens in Orange,” is a PR piece, it is not a journalistic article. It does not cover the questionable aspects presented by Vern.”

    You are the sleazy one, a professional spin master.

    Chris Prevatt : I am disappointed at you, by remaining silent on your colleague statements. What a pair of LIberals you are!

  15. your parsing your words Ricardo. Nice try. You want Matt censured, but by whom? You want him to disclose, which serves no useful purpose as that detail is public knowledge. You can’t tell the difference between a press release and a bylined article.

    You ever want to meet for lunch at the Tilted Kilt to talk about it, let me know, but you’re buying.

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