Administrative Bulletin #34, The Good, The Bad, The Ugly And The Pot Calling The Kettle Black

I have to agree with much of the outrage over the Administrative Bulletin the coordinator of our city's Neighborhood Watch sent out to all the Block Captains with instructions to provide the information contained in it to all the residents of Rancho Palos Verdes.

Ms. Gail Lorenzen, instead of sending the information out simply as a resident of our city, she used her position within the city to offer her stance. This was completely unacceptable, in my view and I hope she was asked to resign from her position very early this morning.

As to the content of the bulletin, I found some of it poorly worded and inaccurate while a portion of it I found truthful and important.

Until 1:00 PM today, you could have viewed the Administrative Bulletin #34 on this blog. I have temporarily removed it from view and I have not decided whether I will republish it on any of my blogs.

I was also provided the letter/Email written by Dr. Michael Brophy, the President of Marymount College who wrote to many individuals with Rancho Palos Verdes government and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

At this time I also choose not to publish it but I have some serious problems with it.

Now I am going to opine on the good, the bad, the ugly, and the pot calling the kettle black.

Although Ms. Lorenzen should have written what she wrote as being from a city resident and not as the coordinator for a city-sponsored program, much of her opinion found agreement in me.

The good:

Ms. Lorenzen was correct in my opinion, to offer her training and experiences as ways to confirm some credibility in her writing.

Ms. Lorenzen stated some opinions I strongly agree with and I feel are important for residents to learn about and understand. Perhaps I will use these opinions in a separate post.

The bad:

Ms. Lorenzen opined some issues that seem far too strong and derogatory to college students. She used ill concieved generalizations in a manner that suggested to me she was overly angry as she wrote the bulletin.

I think she went way overboard in attempting to cite all college students rather than signaling out the few who create most of the problems.

The ugly:

Ms. Lorenzen seemingly used her city position to offer what can be read as the city's stance on The Marymount Plan which the city does not have a stance on.

Nowhere has the City Council voted to endorse or oppose "The Marymount Plan". The City Council has voted to approve almost the complete bulk of what Marymount's supporters are seeking when they voted approvals of The Marymount College Facilities Expansion Project which is almost identical to The Marymount Plan, save for one major item.

It was very ugly for Ms. Lorenzen to place burdens on city government and organizations they must now work to clear and they should not have been placed in these positions because of Ms. Lorenzen's writings.

The pot calling the kettle black is Dr. Brophy's letter/Email he sent out this morning.

It is perfectly reasonable and warranted for Dr. Brophy to use harsh wording and call for immediate action from the leaders of the city, it should also be perfectly reasonable and warranted to expect from Dr. Brophy and others representing Marymount, the same level of action called for by Dr. Brophy.

Dr. Brophy, in my opinion, mounted his high horse to condemn the administrative bulletin, its author and then demand immediate action from city governors when, for so many years and on so many issues, Dr. Brophy and others representing Marymount have not been willing to provide equivalent actions requested by city government, city staff, and residents of Rancho Palos Verdes.

While Dr. Brophy's letter/Email demanded retraction of the administrative bulletin, no one representing Marymount has been willing to offer what I refer to as 'the whole truth' concerning so many aspects of "The Marymount Plan" and prior to that, The Marymount College Facilities Expansion Project.

I feel if Dr. Brophy demands actions and answers from Rancho Palos Verdes government and its residents, it should be the reasonable conclusion that Dr. Brophy and/or others provide truthful and complete actions and answers to a number of questions and points offered as reasons to support "The Marymount Plan".

I do not feel it is reasonable and respectful to demand from others what you yourself are not willing to provide.

While there is far too much dishonesty in Ms. Lorenzen's Administrative Bulletin #34, it is equally matched and in some ways far surpassed by the written advertisements, television commercials and frequent mailings dealing with the purposed initiative.

I hope and expect that our Mayor and City Council members will correctly distance themselves from Ms. Lorenzen's bulletin because it must not reflect any position by the city of Rancho Palos Verdes.

None of us needed this bump in the road when Marymount's supporters are trying their darndest to eliminate city government oversight to what they want at the campus. This only adds fuel to their fire.

I found Dr. Brophy's letter/Email completely over the top compared to his willingness to provide honest communication he demands from the city and folks not inclined to support his wishes.