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Deric Rothe: Inside the Fishbowl
Deric Rothe: Inside the Fishbowl
Coverage choices can be subjective
I came back from a weeklong vacation Monday and it is hard to catch up. Today, Thursday, I am feeling like I have returned most of the phone calls and e-mails and caught up on important stories at the Journal and our sister newspapers throughout the region.
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Mostly I am happy with our efforts over the week of Aug. 3 to Aug. 9. Michelle Miller-Carl, our news editor, did a great job. There is some subjectivity to news coverage, and some things I would have done differently.
Sandra Ashford, owner and founder of the Sugar Plum Tree stores in Auburn, Roseville, and Granite Bay, passed away Aug. 5. Sandra was the loving wife of longtime Auburn Recreation District administrator Terry Ashford and the mother of Ron, Sindy and Stacy. We ran a funeral notice with Sandra’s photo on page A6 Friday. But, given the prominence of the family, we could have done more.
Had I been here, it would have been a page one story. We still may followup. As the newspaper of record, when prominent locals pass, we need to write fitting tributes.
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At the Downtown Rotary Club meeting Tuesday, several Rotarians gave money in recognition of retired Lutheran Pastor Bruce Lundberg’s handling of Sandra Ashford’s memorial service. Many Rotarians are close to the Ashford family and attended her services Monday.
Terry Ashford was Rotary president in 1981-82 and Ron is well known through his work with the Placer County Sheriff’s Department.
Jeff Patton, a local civil engineer, said he had never felt more alive than after hearing Lundberg speak about Sandra, God, and life after death.
I would describe myself as more spritual than religious. But at the time of the death of a loved one, we all look inward at the meaning of life.
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Bill Martin, a Sierra College trustee, spoke to our editorial board Monday about the importance of the area junior college, its lack of funding and the fact that the next election could sway the board one way or the other.
Martin implored us to give Sierra College the prominent coverage it deserves. He said something like 40 percent of area high school graduates attend Sierra College. The college’s infrastructure is crumbling and rather than fight for more money, trustees such as Aaron Klein, Scott Leslie and Jerry Simmons seem content to make due with the limited monies the school has available.
Martin said he thought the Sierra College story was much more important than the Michelle Ollar Burris saga, for example. Yet, the Ollar Burris is splashed across the front page and Sierra College rarely gets the same exposure.
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Martin made some good points. We will endeavor to give Sierra College and the race for its trustee seats that are on the November ballot more prominent attention, especially between now and the upcoming election. We also plan to continue to cover the Ollar Burris story.
We are always interested in your feedback and are constantly striving to make your newspaper relevant to your life.
Sandra Ashford, Bill Martin, Aaron Klein, Auburn Rotary Club
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Deric: Bill Martin is right about the importance of the Sierra College situation and I am glad to hear you intend to focus on it a little more. It is ironic that Klein--who has no education--has been entrusted by the voters to help run a college. Klein, Simmons and Leslie running a college sounds like an idea for the screenplay of a 3 Stooges episode. Is anybody running against Klein? A Grass Valley attorney, John Vodonic, told me he was running agianst Klein, and I sent him some money, but have read nothing about his candidacy in the paper.
Anyway I enjoy your blog, because it reminds me that you take your job seriously. I think I understand the dynamics of running a small town newspaper and that as an editor you should use your moral authority as an editor only in controversies where the path is clear and the public interest is in jeopardy. I think the leadership of Sierra College is such a controversy. In any event, keep up the good work.
Its not coincidence that Bill Martin would want the Journal to cover Sierra College elections more closely, and that Deric wants to do it.
I expect to see a LOT of slanted news on the subject.
Derek,
I'd love to come in for a chat with the Journal's editorial board as well, so they can hear both sides of the story. Bill Martin's personal political vendettas aside, every member of the Board of Trustees is actively engaged in working to repair and modernize our Rocklin campus.
As you know, I've been on record since October 2003 as willing to support a small, conservative and efficient bond measure, focused on the right kind of projects. Despite opposition from a decent number of my supporters, I haven't changed my mind on that issue.
But right now, our economy is in a major downturn. People are hurting. Many are out of work, and on the brink of losing their homes. Every single bond measure in Placer County this year has gone down in flames. It is our job as trustees to LISTEN to the taxpayers -- not lecture them.
So Bill has his heart set on a mega-bond with $18,000 per student in new taxes. I'm much more interested in what we can do NOW to make substantial progress on repairing and modernizing classrooms and labs with the resources that have already been entrusted to us.
Bill thinks we can't get anything done without his $18,000 per student tax plan. I'm not willing to accept that as an answer. A comprehensive approach -- acquiring federal funding, building up our foundation, developing the 72 acres of vacant land across Sierra College Blvd., and matching all of those funds with state financing -- is where we need to start.
If Bill is content to lecture the voters, that's fine -- but the other trustees are much more interested in listening to them, and representing their interests.
Aaron
Aaron,
The plan the you described sounds like good business to me, and the philosophy you're proposing is appropriate as this community faces hard financial times.
Bonds are never popular, but heaping debt on top of hard times is even more foolish. Do what you can with the cash you have and don't borrow when people are loosing their homes and jobs.
I'm glad you're taking this approach and I also hope you're reelected Trustee of Sierra.