Let me see here, a newspaper reports that Santa Barbara City Council member and mayoral candidate Iya Falcone got a special police escort into an area evacuated due to the Jesusita Fire in order to deliver food to a friend, after the County Sheriff himself told her that she couldn't go, and Travis Armstrong of the News-Press won't say boo about it?
Everybody else in town seems to have an opinion about this, and the News-Press doesn't?
Gee, when Helene Schnieder, another council member and mayoral candidate, asks people to contribute 99 bucks to her campaign, Armstrong brands it as a stealth operation.
When Schneider's name fails to appear on a building permit for the home owned by herself and her husband, Armstrong dubs it "Helene-gate."
Heck, Mayor Marty Blum can't send off an e-mail without Armstrong accusing her of abusing her power.
Personally, if Falcone wants to try her luck at crossing the line to deliver some food to a friend during an emergency, and she's lucky enough to find a sympathetic deputy who will let her do so, I have no problem with that. But how about some equal opportunity bashing from the folks who run the largest public pillory in town?
Schneider gets tangled up in the blue line controversy, and we never hear the end of it. Falcone gets escorted past the yellow tape and not a peep out of Armstrong.
Did some feral cat suddenly get hold of Armstrong's tongue?
Of course, in order to editorialize about this incident, Armstrong would have to admit that he actually reads the Daily Sound, who reported this story which, to date, the News-Press has not reported.
Yes Virginia, in the eyes of the News-Press there is a caste system at city hall. And it's looking like Falcone is one of the "Untouchables."
© 2009 by Craig Smith and www.craigsmithsblog.com
