The hits keep coming

Today's Manteca Bulletin has an article about whether Lathrop should have an elected mayor or go back to the old days where members of the city council rotated the duties of the mayor. In an interview with one person, planning commissioner Dan MacNeilage, the Bulletin gives publicity to the League of Extraodinary Gadflies and their neverending quest to destroy Mayor Kristy Sayles. Nevermind that the voters overwhelmingly decided they wanted an elected mayor back in 1994 and nevermind that the voters also overwhelmingly elected Sayles to be their mayor in the last two elections. Since the mayor's term of office is only 2 years, they must be afraid the citizens of Lathrop might elect her to a third term. The League of Extraordinary Village Idiots thinks they know what's best for Lathrop, not the voters.

This latest attack comes after an attempt to keep Mayor Sayles from going on a lobbying trip to Washington DC this month as part of the regional One Voice group that includes representatives from Manteca and neighboring cities.

One question for the Bulletin and reporter Rose Albano-Risso: Why are you giving these detractors so much time and column space in your newspaper? Could it be that Albano-Risso is friends with developers Tom and Cathy Luckey who allegedly bankrolled the vicious website that attacked Mayor Sayles and her family last year? The Luckeys have deep ties to MacNeilage and one of the other League members, "Chaka" Santos, another bully critic of the mayor. Santos also ran for mayor last election but lost by a landslide. The article decries the name-calling and mudslinging that went on during the election, but blames it on Mayor Sayles! Anyone who follows this blog knows where the name-calling and mud-slinging came from and it wasn't from the mayor.

Shame on the Bulletin and Albano-Risso for spreading such nonsense and for being an accomplice in this continued bullying smear campaign against Lathrop and its mayor.

The League of Ignorant Villagers are bullies. Maybe in person Commissioner MacNeilage is a nice friendly guy but behind the keyboard he becomes a vicious bully who threatens to knock some teeth out when he doesn't like something. MacNeilage was one of the biggest posters on the website against Mayor Sayles last year and claimed it was all in good fun but seems he can't take it when some fun is poked in his direction.

Ignorant villagers show off nitpicking skills

When Lathrop Mayor Kristy Sayles' statement in response to some of the personal accusations on the "smear website" appeared on Manteca Live! it gave her detractors fodder for a few days, nitpicking everything from the exact mileage between Lathrop and Oakdale to what she supposedly did when she was 16 years old. (How many of us would like to be judged today on what we did as a teenager?) But what can you expect from ignorant villagers? Now they're again trying to blacken her husband's reputation because apparently they've gone through their repertoire of alleged offenses the mayor committed 15-20 years ago.

The Sun Post on Friday reported that mayoral candidate Robert Oliver was "ordered to remove" some derogatory statements about Lathrop city manager Yvonne Quiring from his campaign website by Quiring's attorney. Oliver's website has changed significantly over the past couple of weeks going from a single long diatribe against Mayor Sayles and the city manager to a more condensed version of why he's against the mayor in 6 talking points. Oliver supporters over on the "smear website" urge a vote for him because "Oliver is a man of God, Kristy is the devil."

We previously named current Lathrop candidates who have posted on the "smear website" and questioned their character and integrity for even allowing their names to be associated with it, let alone joining in spreading the malicious gossip. Those candidates are: John Rock (for mayor), Oliver, Steve Dresser's wife (Dresser is a current councilman running for re-election) and Rosalinda Valencia (for city council). This week we add a new name to those posting there: Lathrop city council candidate Chris Mateo. The city of Lathrop has a real brain trust running for public office this year.

As to the actual issues in Lathrop, it's a little unclear where everyone stands because they don't talk much about that. It's much more entertaining to gossip and talk about scandals and who doesn't like whom. Reading between the lines (and some since-deleted web content) it seems a lot of the discontent with the mayor hinges on her vote to hire the current city manager. Since personnel issues are cloaked in secrecy, we may never know what happened with the shake-up of city staff. Most likely, the new city manager had high expectations for staff and that ruffled some feathers. Expecting people to actually earn their bloated salaries and golden benefit packages? Off with her head!

Another thing we keep hearing is that Sayles "took developer money" for her campaign and she's in the pocket of the developers. But then we hear that the reason for the problems in Lathrop is that the mayor didn't do what the developers wanted and so they took their business to Manteca. Manteca city council is definitely in the pockets of developers, but Mayor Willie Weatherford recently said Lathrop was getting all the plum businesses because of Lathrop's developer-friendly policies.

Mob with torches includes candidates

Seems like Manteca Live! is ruffling some feathers among those participating in the defamation website devoted to destroying Mayor Kristy Sayles and her family. I'd like to thank "John Doe," whoever he is, for giving some intelligent and educated information about what constitutes libel and defamation under the law. Somehow, I don't think the "ignorant villagers" believe it.

We've got anonymous posters calling child protective services, the grand jury, the DA's office and the contractors state license board to make complaints based on gossip and hearsay on the internet. For all the big talk about "documents" and "I have proof!" what we really have is a small group of people trading 4th and 5th hand stories. Most of those posting use pseudonyms so no one really knows who they are; for all we know they could be the same few people using different aliases. Makes it look like "everyone in town" is in on it.

What about the mayor's "conviction" you say? Well, first of all I'd say that unless you know first hand what happened with the bounced check and the circumstances (which none of them do if they're honest about it), then you don't know the whole story. Secondly, it looks like the check was written in 1993. Kristy Sayles would have been, what? about 20 years old? In any case, it was 15 years ago, she didn't make any attempt to hide it and it doesn't prevent her from getting a day care license or running for office.

Because of the seriousness of the accusations and defamatory statements made on the viral website, I think it becomes more important every day that the people of Lathrop know where the candidates stand. So far, those on the ballot who have posted on the site are: John Rock and Robert Oliver, candidates for mayor (Oliver is also a current city councilman); and Rosalinda Valencia, city council candidate. Current incumbent councilman Steve Dresser who is up for re-election, hasn't posted under his name but his wife Joyce has.

As for the candidates posting under their real names, at least Valencia is honest about it and isn't saying anything on the website that she hasn't voiced in public (not that that excuses her). John Rock originally claimed to feel sympathy for the mayor and suggested she take time off from politics and encourage her supporters to vote for him. This week he's become the site's welcome wagon, addressing posters individually by name and saying things like "To ALL of you posting on this web site I say: Good Job" and "this webmaster is quite an honorable person." That made me raise my eyebrows a bit. Does he know the "webmaster" personally? Are they friends?

John Rock also posted this, "Because I am a retired Law Enforcement Officer you can be 100% guaranteed that I shall support an investigation into any illegal Civil or Criminal action conducted by any accused City Staff Member or past current City Council Member." Does that mean if you elect him mayor, that he'll make sure Mayor Sayles is thrown in jail where she obviously belongs?

The chief villager calling on everyone to burn the witch is still Laura Thimler. Though not currently running for any office, she claims to be good friends with some of the developers (like the Dell'Osso family) and defends them fiercely when anyone suggests that developers perhaps had a part in Lathrop's problems, whatever those problems are.

Lots to think about, Lathrop. Good luck!

When does gossip become libel?

Today the local "viral website" launched a missile at Mayor Sayles' husband, Tom. Based on rumors, speculation, lack of knowledge and misinterpretation of state laws, the ignorant villagers are declaring him to be a criminal who is working as a contractor without a license and hiring workers without having worker's compensation insurance. They point to the registered owner of record of Sayles Construction on the Contractors State License Board website and the fact that it's a sole ownership with no employees, exempt from having to buy workers comp insurance.

A small general contractor often has no employees, instead using skilled contract work, usually another small contractor who becomes the subcontractor. If the subcontractor has employees, then he is responsible for the workers compensation insurance on any job he sends them, not the general contractor. If the subcontractor does the work himself, then he's still responsible for his own insurance, not the general contractor. Not having employees and not having workers compensation insurance doesn't mean a contractor is doing anything illegal.

Chief gossip Laura Thimler claims to have some kind of personal knowledge about Sayles Construction and the Sayles' intimate family dynamics but that's unlikely. Maybe she trades gossip with a bitter ex-family member of the Sayles' and we know they wouldn't lie. We're just so sure that the mayor and her husband are crooks. They must be! Just listen to what everyone is saying!

It's questionable how far gossip can go before it turns into malicious slander or libel. Today the vicious stories have crossed a line. The new accusations call into question not only Thomas Sayles' character but that of his brother, a small business owner. Since when is it okay to try to ruin someone's business and livelihood? Does freedom of speech regarding a public figure apply to members of the public figure's extended family?

For a fascinating short read on the social dynamics of gossip, see Gossiping to get ahead by Ryan Cureatz.

Lathrop's high tech witch hunt

The rumor mill is still in full force on the website devoted to destroying Lathrop's mayor, Kristy Sayles. The personal attacks and pure vitriol from those posting on the message boards there is pretty frightening. It's especially chilling to see the posts from so-called Christians condemning her morals and telling her to repent and ask God for forgiveness for her sins. They even quote scripture. I guess they've forgotten the part of the Bible that says "let he who is without sin cast the first stone." One particularly nasty poster, who claims to go to the same church as the mayor, called her a filthy name in Spanish in one of his posts.

She's been accused of bigamy, of having children fathered by men she wasn't married to at the time, of taking thousands of dollars from somewhere and doing something with it (doing what is not exactly clear...but who cares about facts when we have so many good rumors). She's accused of using aliases for criminal purposes, and of lying about her age and education and income. We see documents and bits of documents taken out of context, mixed in with accusations and speculations. The condemnation is fueled by the self-righteousness of the "webmaster" and others in the holier-than-thou atmosphere that pervades the site, whipping themselves into a frenzy over the "immoralities" of the mayor.

I'm not here to defend Mayor Sayles. I don't live in Lathrop and can't vote in their elections. What bothers me is the trend throughout our country towards dirty, nasty politics in name of "truth" when often what is put out there is a vile perversion of someone's idea of the truth. Intelligent, thinking citizens will look past the mud and arrows and discern for themselves what to accept and what to reject and take into account where the information is coming from. The ignorant villagers will light their torches and call for burning the witch based on rumors and innuendo spread on a viral website.

I've suggested that the candidates on the Lathrop ballot come out and disassociate themselves from the opposition website. Only one candidate actually said she had nothing to do with it and that's Rosalinda Valencia, candidate for city council. However, though she claimed she's not involved with it, she regularly posts and contributes to the website. According to a trusted source who attended Tuesday's Lathrop city council meeting, Mrs. Valencia "disgraced" herself by making public comments at the meeting about the "blog" and calling for Mayor Sayles to step down.

Who else is posting on the opposition website? John Rock, candidate for mayor, has made several posts under his real name. Laura Thimler posts under her own name and some of the nastiest and juiciest gossip has come directly from her. I think Thimler is a former Lathrop city clerk (but don't hold me to that) and was a candidate in 2002 for MUSD trustee. "Dan," another regular poster to the website, doesn't give his last name but appears to be former Lathrop city council candidate and current Planning Commissioner Dan MacNeilage.

In the end, the smear campaign being waged by Mayor Sayles' enemies may backfire. Word on the street is that even people who don't particularly like her or support her, feel sorry for her because of the website. I think most people can relate to their personal lives being turned inside out and published on the Internet and their disgust with the website is stronger than their feelings about the mayor. Not everyone is an "ignorant villager" and many will see the website, and those participating in it, for what it is.