Marsala's Fate Atherton, posted by Almanac Protecting Marsala, a resident of the Atherton: other neighborhood, on Mar 21, 2010 at 11:47 am
Charles Marsala asked a resident who was involved in a lawsuit with Atherton for $500,000. What needs to happen now? Should Marsala resign? [PORTION DELETED. Also, note that Marsala is accused of asking for a loan, but has not admitted it, nor has he been charged, tried or convicted with respect to this allegation.]
NOTE TO ALMANAC: This thread is unlocked. It does not violate the terms of use. Unless and until you adopt a policy that all users must register to post, do not single this thread out. Public commentary about public officials (good and bad) is fair game.
[ Editor's note: Please don't use this forum to accuse people of crimes, even indirectly through questions. Put yourself in the shoes of the accused. Let's say we knew your name, and it was John Doe, and you served on a town council. Someone stood up at a meeting and said you had asked him for a loan. You say to the public that you have been advised by the town's attorney not to comment because the accuser is involved in litigation with the town. Then people go on the Internet and not only assume you asked for the loan but that you committed a crime, and then speculated about what other crimes or misdeeds you and others on the council were involved in. If that happened, I hope the forum editor would remove such comments. That's what we're doing here. If you don't like the way we monitor this forum, by all means go to another forum or start one of your own.]
Posted by To the Editor, a resident of the Atherton: West Atherton neighborhood, on Mar 21, 2010 at 12:48 pm
Putting yourself in other people's shoes, Marsala being forced to not comment, being subject to an alleged "he said/she said" allegation all sounds nice, until you step back and look at your competitor's paper and the e-mails that were published in which Marsala asked for the loan. That puts an entirely different spin on things. Why didn't the Almanac get these e-mails? If there is physical evidence that something happened, the "no comment" response takes on a very different light. In my view, you're crossing the line between journalism and advocacy at this point.
Posted by Edward R. Murrow, a resident of the Atherton: Lindenwood neighborhood, on Mar 21, 2010 at 1:01 pm
At what point does the "we can't comment because of litigation" transcend a proper objection and become a mechanism by public officials for hiding legitimate issues from the public in order to protect themselves? When a police report gets falsified? When a council member asks for a half million dollar loan? How far does it need to go in the editor's view?
Journalists should be pushing the envelope on this issue, not towing the line.
Posted by dead messenger, a resident of the Atherton: other neighborhood, on Mar 21, 2010 at 1:43 pm
My pen name is dead messenger. It is a moniker that I have earned.
I did not seek to earn this title. I was retaliated against for calling attention the misconduct of Councilman Marsala and of others.
I was, figuratively speaking shot dead. After a while nobody seemed to notice nor care, including this very paper, despite my many e-mails and documentary evidence I sent to the editor and one of this paper's reporters.
As in the words of the late great Yogi Berra, it is deja vu all over again.
Only this time there is one distinct difference, Mr. Buckheit has financial resources in addition to determination.
As such the Almanac News would be wise not to dismiss im so casually as yet another disgruntled resident.
Posted by Melinda Tevis, a resident of the Atherton: West of Alameda neighborhood, on Mar 21, 2010 at 2:07 pm
Mr. Gibboney and his reporters:
-- now exactly WHY?? have you not even requested the "re: loan" e-mails??
Is intentionally not having them supposed to be a reason for remaining " neutral"??
I have seen many times now, how a reporting style and editorial policy of "don't ask don't tell" have skewed out comes on a variety of Atherton issues that never did get a fair airing.
Please spend less time trolling your blog to control information and block opinion--
and more time investigating issues and events for facts, that might actually generate better discussion in all venues.
There must be a lot of talented but unemployed reporters looking for work right now.
Posted by Peter Carpenter, a resident of the Atherton: Lindenwood neighborhood, on Mar 21, 2010 at 8:59 pm Peter Carpenter is a member (registered user) of Almanac Online
The Town Square Forum is intended to be a place for respectful and truthful thoughtful gathering place, not a place for fictional postings or vicious personal attacks. I believe that it is fundamentally wrong for individuals who are not even willing to use their real names to use the Town Square Forum to attack another individual either with fictional accounts or undocumented allegations.
Please, let's preserve the Town Square Forum for serious and respectful dialogue.
Posted by Jon Buckheit, a resident of the Atherton: West Atherton neighborhood, on Mar 21, 2010 at 9:41 pm Jon Buckheit is a member (registered user) of Almanac Online
Peter, I'm all for not resorting to ad hominem attacks, but let's have the undocumented allegations cut both ways. The Almanac published an article referencing me, did not ask for the documentary proof, and is now taking great pains to reference my statements as accusations, without reference to the existence of any proof. This portrays me in an unfair light as well.
Posted by Peter Carpenter, a resident of the Atherton: Lindenwood neighborhood, on Mar 22, 2010 at 6:21 am Peter Carpenter is a member (registered user) of Almanac Online
John, I agree entirely than any standard should cut both ways. I think that the anonymous posters have dragged this forum way down and the only way to restore it to being a place for respectful sharing of community opion is going to be for folks to knock off the clever, deceitful personal attacks - please everybody stick to the facts and, when you elect to attack someone with your opinion, please at least be honest enough to use your own name.
John does both state his facts clearly and use his own name - for which he has my respect.
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