The Tahoe Daily Tribune reports this morning that the IVGID board of trustees voted 4-1 this morning to enter into contract negotiations with Steve Pinkerton to become general manager.
According to the report, “Trustees anticipate bringing a contract for approval and an official start date, should Pinkerton accept the position, at the Feb. 12 board meeting, chairman Joe Wolfe said.”
Earlier story:
The End of the Line for City Manager Pinkerton in Davis?
The hopes that Davis might retain City Manager Steve Pinkerton may have taken a fatal blow this week, as the Tahoe Daily Tribune is reporting that the “search firm hired by the IVGID Board of Trustees to find a new district leader is taking blame for an oversight that reveals one candidate was never qualified to apply.”
One of the two finalists for the position of general manager of the Incline Village General Improvement District, Eric Severance, does not have a bachelor’s degree, one of the position’s minimum requirements.
The paper reports, “While Severance, an Incline resident, was a member of the class of 1975 at Juniata College, he did not graduate with a degree, a spokesperson for the Huntingdon, Pa., school confirmed Monday.”
The paper notes, “Severance, who wrote on his resume he attended Juniata and had continuing education at Southern Oregon State University and Rogue College (Medford, Ore.), confirmed Tuesday he does not hold a degree.”
“I never misrepresented anything on my resume, what’s there is exactly as it’s stated,” Mr. Severance told the paper. “The search firm vetted me and understands all of my background and qualifications. They recommended to put me forward based on my total lifetime accomplishments as the best candidate for the position.”
The listed job description is, “A Bachelor’s degree in Public Administration, Business, Finance, Accounting Engineering or other related field from an accredited four year college or university is required.” Further, a master’s in public or business administration is “strongly preferred.”
It is of course the other finalist that we have more interest in, and Mr. Pinkerton, of course, meets both the required and preferred educational levels needed for the position.
Today both candidates were scheduled to make presentations with public interviews that could run into tomorrow if necessary.
The Vanguard has had mixed information on the chances of Mr. Pinkerton being selected as the finalist. One view says that there are three votes there to hire the local candidates. The other view says there are three votes that are looking for a new direction.
How this new information changes the scenario is anyone’s guess.
The paper reports, “Search firm co-founder Phil McKenney said he recently discovered Severance did not hold a degree.”
“Missing that is an error on my firm’s part, “ Mr. McKenney told the paper. “… This is my mistake, in that I did not make the board aware of this earlier in the process. I take total responsibility for this. That’s not how we do business.”
The paper adds, “The IVGID board is scheduled to interview both candidates Wednesday, when McKenney plans to bring the situation to the board’s attention.”
“Often times, it’s worth a discussion that if the candidate lives in the community, has worked for the district in the past, yet does not have a degree … does that person’s experience, successes and accomplishments trump the education requirement? I believe that question will be asked (Wednesday),” said Mr. McKenney, who stressed that Severance did nothing wrong by applying for the position.
Boding poorly for Davis’ chances of retaining Steve Pinkerton, “IVGID Board Chairman Joe Wolfe said he recently became aware of the issue.”
“When (the board) decided what our requirements would be … when we finalized them, we expected Mr. McKenney to vet the candidates and to inform us,” Mr. Wolfe said Tuesday. “In my opinion, I thought Mr. McKenney would have ruled out (Severance) … due to the requirements.”
Mr. Wolfe said “he doesn’t see any wiggle room around what the job description says versus what’s represented on Severance’s resume.”
“In my opinion, if we now start playing favorites, then we ruled out several people who didn’t have (a degree) either,” Mr. Wolfe said. “We’ve had procedures set in place … all along.”
The paper added, “A phone message to IVGID Counsel Scott Brooke seeking legal clarification on the matter was not returned for this story.”
Mr. Pinkerton, in a comment on the record, cited personal reasons for applying for the Incline Village position.
He told the Vanguard in early January, “My wife and I have always loved Lake Tahoe. Audrey lived in Zephyr Cove as a young adult and has always dreamed of going back to the mountains. We also have very close friends who live in the Reno-Tahoe area.”
He called the opportunity a unique one and denied he was actively seeking a new position.
“While I haven’t been actively looking for a new position, the position description piqued my interest,” stated Mr. Pinkerton. “The opportunity to manage a service-focused Special District in one of the most livable communities in the country is a unique opportunity.”
Two councilmembers declined comment previously. However, Mayor Joe Krovoza, in a text to the Vanguard, said, “Our council with Steve is moving tremendously important issues forward. He has gained a great sense for our values and how to reflect them in his two-plus years with us. I hope we keep the momentum going, but I certainly understand why others are interested in him.”
According to the job description, the Incline Village General Improvement District, commonly known as IVGID, is located on the northeast corner of Lake Tahoe, in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Washoe County, Nevada and occupies a land area of approximately 15.36 square miles.
It is a community of roughly 9000 people.
The description explains, “The community encompasses approximately 9,400 parcels in an unincorporated rural area. The District includes parcels with addresses in both Incline Village and Crystal Bay and approximately 1,200 of these parcels are government exempt (USFS, State) and of the remaining 8,200 parcels, more than half are owned for occasional use.”
IVGID was formed in 1961 as a General Improvement District which is a quasi-municipal corporation. The Board of Trustees operates as a city council type organization, elected, setting policy on behalf of the electorate.
However, the description notes, “While the district is a local unit of government, it functions more as a business because of the significant enterprise nature of most of its activities.”
Mr. Pinkerton told the Vanguard he was not added to the list of interviewees until late October.
He also assured council and the public that he is not seeking other positions, that this was what he considered a unique opportunity, given the community and the proximity of lifelong friends.
“I want to emphasize that I am very happy in my current position and continue to enjoy working for the City Council and the citizens of Davis,” he said. “I have not been submitting applications for any other positions, and I am not considering any other opportunities at this time.”
However, as this plays out there is a good chance he will be offered the position and if that is the case, why would he go through this process if he did not intend to take the position?
—David M. Greenwald reporting
To land on his feet if push came to shove or for bargaining power for a new contract with this council that dithers while Davis burns. Yet if he goes we will have no one to blame but ourselves for treating a talented leader like an expendable commodity.
“Yet if he goes we will have no one to blame but ourselves for treating a talented leader like an expendable commodity.”
Pinkerton came into the position knowing he was going to be doing many unpopular things in order to right the financial ship. Anyone in his position can’t afford to be thin-skinned, and I’ve seen no indication that he’s either surprised or disappointed at the conditions he’s faced as City Manager.
Key question… is IVGID a PERS agency?
They are in Nevada
Which means, Pinkerton can retire from PERS (even though he is not yet 55 years old), start with a pension of roughly $145-$150,000 per year, take the $145,000 on top of that IV will pay him, and pay no state income tax on his $290-$300,000 annual income. I presume IV will give him a medical plan, and it’s likely he would want a full retiree medical plan from them. He won’t get retiree medical from Davis, as he is not yet vested here (although it’s possible there is language in his contract that I don’t know about which vested him early).
One thing I recently learned about a 2.5% at 55 pension is that you can retire at 50, if you want. You don’t get quite as much if you’re not yet 55, but at Pinkerton’s age (53 or 54) he will get nearly 100% of his full pension.
So, our harebrained compensation plans not only over-pay employees at all levels, it also creates these weird incentives for employees arguably in the prime of their effectiveness to not stick around.
Can we outsource the city manager position?
There is a city in Georgia called Sandy Springs which outsources almost all of its employees other than police and fire (who cannot be outsourced under the state constitution). One of the few actual employees is the CM.
From The Economist:
“This experiment in radical outsourcing began back in December 2005, when Sandy Springs went from being merely a part of Fulton County—which also includes most of Atlanta, Georgia’s capital and largest city—to an incorporated city itself. CH2M Hill, a Colorado-based engineering firm, signed a contract to provide city services, which it did until the middle of 2011. Then Sandy Springs took the experiment further and solicited competitive bids for different services. It also signed contracts with losing bidders for every winning one. These contracts came with neither pay nor work; they simply provide insurance in case the winning bidder fails to provide good service or raises prices. John McDonough, the city manager, estimated the move will save Sandy Springs $7m each year for the next five.”
The changes proposed/implemented may have accelerated some folks to “lock in” their benefits. Expect a number of key staff leaving in the ‘near past’ or in the next 2 years.
Or we could blame Davis’ lack of a beautiful alpine lake.
You could blame it on the reasons you suggest but that would deny the obvious that at the time he applied there was a thinly veiled campaign to get him fired and there are surely people who would still be happy to see him go. Had there not been that effort and a contract renewal been on the table its doubtful he would have bothered to apply. It is a lot of effort to apply for jobs in leadership positions. Institutional inertia is the path of least resistance.
I agree that both the contract renewal matter and the high-level attempt to oust him were likely motivators for looking elsewhere. I don’t believe the absence of universal love for him or his efforts played a role.
I don’t think there was a high level attempt to oust him. It was more of a lobbying effort of the council that went nowhere. Still it made him consider his options. The part I don’t understand, and it could be that I don’t have all the facts, is why more wasn’t done to try to get him to stay? Perhaps there was no point because as Rifkin points out the money is just too good to pass up should he get to collect his pension in California while working in Nevada. Perhaps its not too late. I don’t know. I’m just sad to see him go and wish something would have been different so he would have stayed. This of course assumes he goes.
Mr. Toad: According to my information, you are completely wrong, there was a high level attempt to oust him.
Are there replacements out there? (I’ll bet that there are).
My guess is that Yvonne Quiring will serve as the interim CM.
Given her experience previously, I think that’s exceedingly unlikely
There are always replacements. We can all be replaced. We may even find somebody as good but it will take time to find a permanent replacement who can handle the many difficulties being a City Manager in Davis presents. Davis is facing some difficult decisions so its a bad time for Pinkerton to go.
And there is a start-up cost for any management replacement. You don’t just step in and start being productive on the first day. This means that progress on certain things will stall.
And for all of us that want to complain about the performance of city staff… look no further than this lack of continuity of leadership.
It is a bigger problem than we consider.
I think the compensation plans for our city manager needs to be completely reworked to include at-risk bonus based on performance goals that provide a substantial upside.
Davis should welcome a city manager making $300,000 per year if he/she is performing well enough. And with compensation potential at that level, we would attract and retain the best and the brightest.
But would the egalitarians scream bloody murder that it is not fair that we would pay someone so much (even if half of their compensation was tied to specific performance goals every year)? Probably.
he’s gone. thanks dan and lucas. so who becomes the interim city manager? kelly s.? herb n? rob white?
His lack of support from 2/5ths of the City Council is certainly a factor. But it’s not the only one. You have to know that Pinkerton has been an ambitious climber who has left other cities for a bit bigger job with a bit more pay a number of times over the last 15 years. This move is in line with that. Also, because of his now being able to cash in on his huge pension, he has a very strong incentive to retire from PERS. Even more, if he lives in Nevada, he avoids the horribly high California income tax rate on what will be his $300,000 or so income in Nevada. Prop 30 is giving all high income California retirees a very strong incentive to leave our state. If the Silicon Valley ever decides to leave the Bay Area, the way the movie industry left Los Angeles, we would really see how few people pay almost all of the state’s income tax. And when they go, the game is over.
I would move to Incline Village if I could… and I don’t even ski any more.
You couldn’t pay me enough to deal with the cold and snow. Now, if we could just dial back the summer highs in Davis to the low 90s, it’d be perfect!
Unfortunately, Pinkerton seems to like the idea of living at Tahoe, so I don’t think he’ll be here much longer.
So, you seem to be saying, “an opportunist”… have no problem with that…. folks I’ve talked to see him as distant to city staff, but personable if you know him well… I think the City should thank him for his service, and ‘move on”. Just an opinion
I don’t agree that we should move on hpierce, but for the sake of the discussion, do you have any thoughts about either an interim City Manager or a peramanent City Manager?
On an intrerim, depends on how long “interim” is. There are a few I could commend for about 6 months , but long term, my opinion iis that the city needs to go outside.
As the CM has a clause in the contract6
Dan and Lucas didn’t push him out. As stated publicly by the mayor there was no move by the CC to fire him. I think the word the mayor used was “actionable.” The push came from other places in the community. I’m not sure he is gone, he hasn’t signed a contract yet. Although if Rifkin is correct about the big payday he could get if he goes it will be hard to see how Davis can retain him. Still they might try to make him an offer to stay. You never know miracles can happen. If he goes I will be sad so perhaps its just wishful thinking on my part.
I think the word the mayor used was “actionable.”
I believe it was more along the lines of – no Council action to report – which could simply mean that they didn’t take a formal vote. If you do not believe that there was a move to oust the CM by a minority of the CC then you are just being naive.
you’re drawing a false distinction. what the mayor reported is that there was no actual vote taken, that does not mean that dan and lucas weren’t pushing for pinkerton to be fired, but stopped short of voting to fire him when they realized they didn’t have a third vote. one of the councilmembers who shall be nameless, told me directly that dan and lucas pushed very hard to fire pinkerton but they never got a third vote.
and you’re missing a second problem, if sheila allen wins, she could potentially at least join with dan and lucas to oust pinkerton and pinkerton can count and if he has a soft landing spot, he’ll take it.
Please Toad, give it a rest. The same people and union you always back likely played a big role in Pinkerton’s decision to look elsewhere.
TOAD: Listen to the actual words coming out of the Wolk camp. Dan and his people are now on the warpath against Pinkerton. They are trying desperately to get the firefighters on board Dan’s campaign. And the method to get the firefighters to love Dan, the way the firefighters love Mariko, is to go after Pinkerton, who the firefighters passionately hate. I spoke recently with one of Dan’s people–not Dan himself–and I was shocked at how livid this person’s anti-Pinkerton rhetoric was. The very same person had good things to say about Pinkerton 6 and 12 months ago. But now, in campaign mode, the Dan camp is doing all it can to please the firefighters.
The interesting question in all of this is are the other employee groups in Davis, who played ball and worked with the City, ever going to stand up for themselves and speak out against the firefighters; and by extension against Dan’s candidacy? After all, with X amount of dollars to go around, and Dan and Lucas doing everything they can to make sure an excessive percentage of that goes to the firefighters, the other employee groups are the biggest losers in that equation. I just don’t think the other city workers’ groups (as opposed to individual members) are set up to really speak up and call out those who want the firefighters to have more of their money. Certainly, as services are cut in order to pay more for firefighters, the general public is not speaking up or behaving rationally. Heck, they are likely going to elect one of the two members of the Council who is determined to screw them over as our next member of the Assembly, and in two years they will move Lucas Frerichs, the other tool of the firefighters, up to the Board of Supervisors. Alas, the people of Davis have proven they don’t care about ethics, they don’t care about fairness, they don’t care about corruption, they don’t care about raising taxes, even when that takes money from the pockets of most residents who have no pensions and no OPEB and gives it to folks who make a lot more.
It’s very disconcerting to think that the selection of the new city manager is going to be an under-the-radar issue in the next council campaign. It will likely distort — even more than usual — the funding and volunteer efforts on behalf of certain candidates. This is simply terrible timing.
Dan and Lucas voted to impose a contract on the FF’s.
What makes you say most Davis residents don’t have pensions?
UCD students have pensions? Private sector workers have pensions? Small business owners have pensions? No, no and no, that is why.
Also, even though K-14 teachers and most full-time UCD personnel have pensions, none gets a benefits package worth anywhere near what city employees are getting, and city employees in general get far less in benefits than City firefighters.
Just look at the UCD firefighters compared with the City firefighters. The pension, OPEB and cafeteria benefit given to the Davis firefighters is (if I recall correctly) more than double that of the university firefighters, who do the same job. More than double!
What a tax hike means is that all sorts of residents of Davis, including teachers like you, Toad, who make half of what most city employees make in total comp, will have less for themselves, so that the City can go on giving away unbelievably generous pensions, OPEB and medical to its employees and its employees’ families.
And what is the response of the two members of the city council who are most ambitious to please the firefighters in order to further their political careers? Lets give the firefighters more, more, more; and let’s screw over everyone else, because no one else seems to care. Certainly, the Toads of this world either don’t care or are incapable of doing basic math.
UC Davis students might have pensions by the time they retire. Private sector workers also might have pensions if they are in an unionized industry. Many private sector workers have IRA or 401K programs too. Of course the biggest employers in our area all offer prnsion plans; UC, the county, the city, the state, the military and various school systems.
DP
“he’s gone. thanks Dan and Lucas.”
Fully agree again D.P. This is getting to be a habit.
Big loss for Davis in our difficult financial situation.
this is a disaster for the city.
Wish he would stay another year or two, but the comments above as to fiscal reasons to move to Nevada make a compelling argument. He also has personal ones.
“Yes, his experience will be greatly missed – BIG TIME IN FACT – but his leadership and pragmatism all the more.”
Then again, that’s just a businessman talking.
So now the council, already facing a full agenda and a number of important decisions, and an upcoming election, has to deal with the process of selecting an interim city manager, establishing a hiring search, reviewing candidates, and making a final selection.
This is a regrettable waste of council resources and reflects very poorly on two council members.
There sure are a lot of unnamed sources being touted. I have gotten the same answer from two people who were in the meeting and we have the corroborating public statement of the mayor that no vote was taken. I think unless we have first hand, on the record statements its all speculation and here say, and we need to remember that.
The point in question is not whether a vote occurred.
So, Mr. Toad, ask the council members and see if they’ll go on the record.
I agree but let’s ask them a question they are at liberty to answer.
You have any on the record quotes attributed to real people using their real names or just gadfly anonymous posters like myself whose accuracy and influence are wildly overstated?
I trust my sources.
You guys are all missing the big picture. Instead of trying to read tea leaves about confidential meetings why aren’t you putting pressure on all five sitting council members? It seems to me that Davis should at least try to retain him by putting a new contract on the table. If my understanding is correct any 3 members could offer him a new contract so whatever and whoever made him apply in Incline Village is less relevant than the fact that he has not yet been offered a new contract by Davis. In only attacking Dan and Lucas you are forgetting that the majority rules and there are three other votes on the council. If you want to be a legitimate news operation why don’t you ask all five council members on the record about why the city has not entered into new contract negotiations and if we can expect the city to do so? Interesting that as far as we know Pinkerton hasn’t yet signed with Incline Village but there is no time to lose.
How do you know that isn’t happening? But I get the same answer from everyone – this is more personal and less about money.
I look forward to hearing their responses.
By the way, there are no tea leaves involved in this.
Then why not put it on the record?
Because I didn’t get it on the record.
Then why say it at all? Its either on the record or off the record. If its on the record report it but if its off the record don’t report it. isn’t that how it works in real journalism?
Because it’s accurate.
How do you know that?
I trust my sources.
Did you call the people and ask for their on the record response?
It’s going to be pretty interesting to see what happens if/ when Pinkerton leaves.
Hmmm….Davis or Incline Village…Tough choice. ROFLMAO.
He’s come and done his necessarily evil duty and can and should move on. That is the nature of his profession. The questions I would be asking: What do we expect the next city manager to oversee and what are our desired outcomes. This is an obvious opportunity for the pro-development people and the no-growthers to lobby for their viewpoints to be represented in the selection process and to assess the strength of each other’s following. The next city manager may determine much of Davis’ future growth or stagnation.
;>)/
Now I would have phrased that somewhat differently. I would have said Davis further growth or stability. Lack of growth does not equal stagnation if a slower rate of growth will actually benefit the population as is often the case.
Typical no-growther rhetoric. ;>)/
Toad – David is absolutely correct. One of the trustees is a good friend. Pinkerton has been offered the job.
This is good theater… makes our council meetings look tame by comparison.
http://new.livestream.com/IVGID/events/2727342
I had to laugh. I know that there are a larger percentage of conservatives living at Incline Village. My experience is that this would result in more direct face-to-face conflict instead of that silent bubble that pops up over the heads of Davis people that reads: “I will find a way to get my way while I continue to smile and act like I care about what you think.”
I think I prefer more civility and order… but without the silent bubbles.
About what?
This article has a quote from Pinkerton stating he hopes contract negotiations get worked out so he can get up there as soon as possible. http://www.tahoedailytribune.com/northshore/9955639-113/board-incline-manager-pinkerton
As a city employee, I’m very sad and very concerned for the future of our city over the next two years with the loss of Pinkerton (and yes much farther into the future too / I’m specifically talking about how long a process it will take to get someone new and get them settled in.) While things have been challenging the last few years, he has in deed done what he was asked to do and put us on a path heading in the right direction. I’m at a loss as to who could possibly step in on an interim basis. If Council even attempts to make it Quiring, maybe city staff will finally feel they can speak up about what a total disaster that would be – if Council is willing to listen.
When the Incline Village competition first became public, Steve Pinkerton noted that his family had personal reasons to take a shot at the job even though he wanted to stay at Davis.
About that same time, we learned that Bobby Weist was spouting off with a claim that he had three council members supporting the firefighter union desire to dump Steve, starting with the required renewal notice vote.
It was easy to identifiy two (Dan and Lucas) based on their statements and decisions at council meetings over the past year. But, from where could the third vote be coming ?!
Turns out Weist had overplayed his hand—the third vote did not exist. Once this effort became known, it was in no one’s interest to publicly discuss the matter (particularly for Dan and Lucas to assure the community that they weren’t the villains we thought and that they fully supported our current city manager).
But, now that Pinkerton in on his way out, several folks can claim success (Dan, Lucas and Bobby). It’s impossible to know how much credit they’re really due for making Davis an unwelcome future for the city manager. Yet, trying to compete with Incline Village at this point would be futile given the other variables (financial and personal) that must already have him packing the china.
We just have to hope we can analyze successfully those who run to replace Mayor Joe and/or Dan. One wrong move and we’ll end up with three votes that return to the type of municipal leadership that we thought was behind us.
So let me get this straight. David is reporting what happened in a confidential closed session personnel review meeting of the city manager by the council. Not only that David won’t tell us who told him this to protect his sources. Further he didn’t ask for an on the record response but we are supposed to believe David’s sources are credible without hearing a rebuttal from the others involved.
Beyond the obvious problems with this story and its obvious legal and political ramifications for those involved and three members of the city council on the ballot in June lies the larger problem of whether the Davis City Council can have frank closed session deliberations among themselves. Not to mention the journalistic issues it raises and the lack of common sense of the individual who told David what happened in closed session expecting it to be just between the two of them. Not only that but several other posters are confirming this story as if its no big deal and it seems everyone in town besides myself knows the same story.
Some of us are coming to the conclusion that you don’t want to believe it.
I’m asking for a little journalistic integrity. I’m also concerned about the ability of the council to conduct business in closed session.
I think you’re making too much about what might have happened during the closed meeting. “Nothing actionable” means just that. It’s what went on in the days and weeks before that executive session that has been the real subject of David’s reporting and that should concern Davis voters.
I’m troubled about The Vanguard’s citing of anonymous sources so much, particularly when there’s no apparent reason for either the person quoted or David to insist on anonymity (when reporting a secret someone’s opinion, for example).
In this case, however, claims about firefighter lobbying of certain council members to dump Pinkerton supposedly comes from multiple “trusted” insiders with legitimate reasons to demand protection as a condition of providing information. No one involved is about to spill the beans on the record. And, the issues are important enough to justify running a story with only anonymous sourcing.
We each have to rely on our feeling on Vanguard credibility to weigh this coverage.
I actually had to go back and re-read the dialog myself. It started when I used the term “Instead of trying to read tea leaves about confidential meetings …”
David said “There are no tea leaves.” Indicating he had a first hand account of what went on inside a confidential meeting. He will not say who his source is and won’t say if he called people to get their response to the accusation so in my mind there are three problems:
1. Someone told David something that was off the record that he is reporting as off the record. I consider this troubling because it means that if told something off the record it might not stay off the record.
2 .People being accused of things are not being given the opportunity to respond. Woodward and Bernstein always had two sources and then would call up the official and ask for comment before publishing. Should we expect anything less from the Davis Vanguard?
3. Someone is talking to David about what went on in a confidential personnel meeting of the Davis City Council.
Am I missing something?
The irony here is that you accused me of reading the tea leaves, and that is exactly what you are doing.
” I consider this troubling because it means that if told something off the record it might not stay off the record.”
“Off the record” doesn’t mean the information doesn’t get disseminated — quite the contrary, dissemination is intended — it simply means it’s not for attribution. If you don’t want something retold, you don’t tell it in the first place.
Is that the Vanguard definition?
I agree 100% Jim. Toad seems to be dancing on the head of a pin with the argument he is pursuing in this thread.
I don’t know Matt. Trying to get someone fired is pretty serious stuff. Shouldn’t such an accusation contain a who, what, when, where and why set of attributable facts so that the reader can have the context and the nuance to determine if such an action was justified or if its retaliation or whatever? If its because of differences in style or policy. If its because someone is doing a bad job, a good job or too good a job. Shouldn’t such a story include if the people involved were contacted and if they responded? David may have sources but if he can’t tell the story and fill in enough blanks for people to understand the meaning of the story because he needs to protect his sources should he write about it publicly? Perhaps this is why we haven’t seen this story yet or did I miss it?
I’m not sure what you’re looking for, Mr. Toad. Just who which participants do you think will speak for the record about the firefighters’ partially successful effort to lobby at last some of our city council members? Even the departing City Manager likely wouldn’t give media the time of day on the record.
I understand your desire for open discussion and confirmation by the alleged participants. Since it seems so unlikely, however, I have to accept David’s version from unidentified sources.
The fact that Lucas and Dan still have not denied their supposed participation in the firefighters’ efforts to send Pinkerton away is somewhat enlightening as well.