U-T Uses Fire to Smear Aguirre -- Inaccurately, As Always
By Don Bauder
October 24, 2007
When the fires began Sunday morning, I asked my wife, "How long will it be before the U-T blames Aguirre for starting the fire?" It didn't take long for the U-T to use the fire to smear him. This morning (Wednesday, Oct. 24), the U-T has a grossly inaccurate story headlined "Aguirre wants San Diego evacuated in wake of wildfires." The lead says Aguirre "advocated a voluntary evacuation" of the City. That's false, as can be expected. In a memo of Oct. 22 that I will quote in full below, Aguirre recommended a voluntary evacuation PLAN. That is much different from a voluntary evacuation. He stressed the possibility of respiratory damage from smoke. He suggested officials contact nearby cities such as Yuma in the event that winds shifted and San Diegans would be in harm's way. At the time of the memo, Highway 8 was open, and could have accommodated people leaving if lung damage became severe. He did not recommend a voluntary evacuation -- just a PLAN for one. In the U-T's story, the police chief, fire chief and mayor's office falsely said Aguirre urged an exodus. The memo will show that he considered a PLAN for such an exodus.
Here is the memo:
"Given the current unprecedented wildfire condition which is exacerbated by Santa Ana conditions and the number of people and homes impacted by fires, it is respectfully submitted that a voluntary evacuation PLAN (emphasis mine) of the entire City be immediately implemented. "A voluntary evacuation PLAN consistent with current local, state and federal policies should be considered for the following reasons: "1. Remove Citizens from Harm's Way: "Weather reports as of the date of this memo predict that 'a strong Santa Ana condition will continue to bring very windy, dry and hot weather with a critical fire hazard through Tuesday. The strongest winds will be through and below mountain canyons and passes today and Tuesday. ' Weaker offshore flow will maintain very warm and locally windy conditions Wednesday. Gradually cooler Thursday and Friday as high pressure and offshore flow weaken.' "The probable future route of the fire is of foremost concern in determining which areas to evacuate first. The probable route of the fire can best be predicted by referring to weather forecasts. The westerly off-shore Santa Ana winds are forecasted to remain high through today and tomorrow, and diminishing Wednesday. By Wednesday evening and Thursday, on-shore flow is expected to resume. If the Cedar Fire is any example, the fire could shift and take an easterly direction. The foreseeability of this factor should be considered in implementing a voluntary evacuation PLAN. "2. Access routes may be unavailable, making future evacuation impossible: "Minimizing the impact of traffic congestions by implementing a PLANNED (my emphasis) and scheduled evacuation: the north and east access routes out of San Diego may be in jeopardy of full utilization due to closures from the fire. A PLANNED voluntary evacuation would lessen congestion on the access routes if this process was considered now rather than delayed, which may result in a massive exodus if the current situation continues. "3. Limit Citizens' Exposure to Hazardous Air Quality and Its Adverse Health Impacts: "Wildfire smoke is composed of Particulate Matter (PM), gases, and water vapor. One of the biggest health concerns of smoke comes from PM. Most of the PM produced in wildland fire is respirable; that is, it is small enough to pass through the upper respiratory system and enter deep into the lungs. Respirable particles can also aggravate existing heart and lung diseases, such as congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (emphysema and chronic bronchitis), and asthma. Exposure to smoke may also depress the ability to fight lung infection. IN THE EVENT THAT YOU CHOOSE TO IMPLEMENT A VOLUNTARY EVACUATION PLAN (emphasis mine), we recommend you contact the cities of Yuma, Phoenix, Tucson, Flagstaff, and Riverside to coordinate a location(s) to house evacuees. The Ciy Attorney's office stands ready to assist in any way our services can best be utilized during this emergency. Respectfully submitted, Michael J. Aguirre, City Attorney"
This is a well-reasoned memo. Aguirre was recommending a PLAN (not a course of action) that should have been in place after the Cedar fire. But the U-T jumped it, quoting notoriously unreliable officials saying that Aguirre was RECOMMENDING an immediate evacuation.
Don Bauder
Don,
I too was waiting for the UT to take a cheap shot at Aguirre and I think they did, but to be fair Aguirre's memo does say "a voluntary evacuation plan of the entire City be immediately implemented". Note he said the plan should be "immediately implemented", not just created.
I love so much of what Aguirre has been doing, that I get frustrated when he oversteps his job duties and gives his enemies ammunition to attack him.
I think the same personality trait that allows him to persevere in exposing corruption in the face of withering attacks from the establishment, pushes him to take too many actions that extend beyond his role as CA and risk diluting his effectiveness.
Don't we have enough politicians for photo ops, sound bites and credit taking? Govenors, Senators, Mayors, Supervisors, and the President of the United States on Thurday. Do we really need our City Attorney to continue to chime in, do we? Wouldn't it be nice if he would "practice law", where he is suppose to have expertise, rather than offering his hairbrained ideas in every discipline there is and every chance he gets. Mr. Aguirre, by my estimation, is getting himself unelected each and everytime HE CHOOSES to participate in matters not related to the duties of his office.
1. He suggested the PLAN be implemented, not the evacuation. That is very clear from reading his memo. Read it again.
2. Aguirre's memo was addressed to the mayor. Aguirre didn't say anything about it in public. The mayor's thoroughly dishonest flacks -- about as reliable as the U-T -- fed it to the U-T. The non-credible police chief, mayor's office, etc. joined in the smear, completely distorting what the memo said. I wonder why the equally dishonest DA didn't join in on this one? Maybe she was out of town -- or asleep as usual. I do not think Aguirre's suggested PLAN was harebrained at all. Such a plan for POSSIBLE evacuation should have been in place following the 2003 fire. Best, Don Bauder
The Union Tribune is so over the top with anti-Aguirre garbage I cancelled my subscription. It's absolutely absurd all this character assassination BS that they ladle out day after day.
As far as developing a plan to evacuate, that's only common sense. We have, as the mayor keeps saying, an unprecedented event far beyond anything we've ever seen.
So WHY NOT get somebody to work on developing an evacuation plan, just in case?
Don,
You, I and others will interpret the City Attorney’s memo in all sorts of ways. All I wonder is why he has this uncontrollable urge, desire, to advocate any and everything. Wasn’t he elected to be the City Attorney? Can’t he just stay focused on the duties of his office and accomplish something POSITIVE for the City just ONCE?
In this case, I see his suggestions as you called them, time taken away official decision makers working the incident to consider his thoughts. Hopefully, they dismissed the "suggestions" quickly.
I have a friend who got so sick of the U-T that he told his wife, "Cancel our subscription right away." Her reply: "We did cancel three months ago. They keep delivering it." I have heard such stories from others: after you cancel, you continue receiving the paper. The U-T is giving it away. Does the U-T count these unpaid-for papers as paid circulation? Good question. Best, Don Bauder
Funny you say that. My roomate had also cancelled (several months ago), and the paper instead put her on "temporary hold." The automatic billing resumed after three months, although no paper was being delivered. She called and this time got it cancelled. When I canceled I made sure there wasn't going to be any monkey business, but sure enough, until I double checked on the line with the representative, I discovered my "cancelation" was going to the temporary hold file. I told them I wanted it canceled, not stopped. It seems if you use the word "stop" that is treated different from "cancel," although they really aren't clear on that.
1. Definitely use the word "cancel," not "stop," or you will probably wind up in a "temporary hold" category.
2. In re Aguirre: he interprets his mandate as representing all the people, not just the pols and bureaucrats. As such, he has a right to step in when other officials are not doing their jobs. The memo clearly is a suggestion for a plan of evacuation if it becomes necessary, not a request for an evacuation, as was falsely stated by other purported officials and the U-T. Best, Don Bauder
I have to agree with comment #1, Don:
Implement: transitive verb, to carry into effect; fulfill; accomplish.
It makes perfect sense to me that Aguirre was calling for the plan to be made, not for it to be carried out, fulfilled, or accomplished, but his choice of words was poor.
I think if you read the entire memo -- particularly the frequent uses of the word "plan" -- it is clear that he wanted a PLAN for possible voluntary evacuation implemented. That is hardly the same as asking for a voluntary evacuation. Preparing such a memo was part of his job as a member of the City's emergency committee. Aguirre had gone through FEMA training for his duties on that committee. Best, Don Bauder
FEMA TRAINING? Let's get specific! Exactly what FEMA training did Mr. Aguirre tell you he has taken. FEMA's "Underwater Basket Weaving in New Orleans post Katrina 101" might not equate to developing plans to evaculate 1.3 million people out of San Diego. So what training has he taken?
Don, I already posted a “Comment” on Matt's “Breaking Stories: Fire Press” story yesterday emphasizing the Fallen Heroes and Baghdad Landscapes consequences of U-T establishment corruption of San Diego politicians.
Further with respect to your Blog above, the root cause of our problems in San Diego is that the paramount fact of life in American politics today is that Special Interest Democracy has replaced We The People Democracy. The most problematic consequence is that corruption of local, state and federal politicians have allowed our “Made in America” economy to be replaced by a “Made in China” economy. We still have a choice, which must implemented with a sense of urgency because time and opportunities decreasing, we must demand a new breed of Independent politician to replace the corrupt republican and democrat establishments. What we are losing in the meantime are quality jobs and benefits, opportunities for middle class achievement, and quality of life, and The Reader generation will suffer the consequences of our current legacy of complacency that has failed to protect We The People American Democracy.
Meanwhile the U-T continues its deranged rant editorials, resulting in unacceptable consequences that you keep exposing. Keep up your great reporting Don and Matt, hopefully We The People will wake up and do the right things in time.
Tony St. John
Aguirre took the computerized course in emergency management that other City department heads took. Additionally, he did a research project on his own following the 2003 Cedar fire. He appeared before the Board of Supervisors in November 2003, saying that the county was permitting citizens to be responsible for their own brush management, and this was setting the county up for another fire. His ideas were dismissed by Supervisors Ron Roberts and Dianne Jacob, who were hogging the microphones during the current fires.
I'm no expert in San Diego history, but I am not sure "We the People" Democracy has ever prevailed in the city or county. Labor organizers were beaten savagely in the early part of the 20th century. Swindlers such as C. Arnholt Smith and John Alessio had iron-fisted control over the county and the Copley organization in the 1950s and 1960s. This legacy of real estate interests selecting and manipulating local politicians, and controlling mainstream media, goes way back; that is one thing hampering reform efforts today. If you know of any period in which there was "We the People" democracy in San Diego, please enlighten us. Perhaps during the 1930s there was. Best, Don Bauder
Okay thanks for the honesty. Those computerized courses explain to the student the NIMS organizational chain of command and roles in the Incident Command System. A system I might add, created in California in the 70’s to manage resources and communications after the disastrous wildland fires during that decade.
The odd thing about NIMS and ICS; there is NO role for the City Attorney, which must chagrin Mr. Aguirre to no end. Look for yourself at "http://training.fema.gov/IS/crslist.asp". Although there are many useful courses and ANYONE may take them online, there is nothing specifically targeting the planning and evacuation of millions.
I think the Governor’s spokesman said it correctly; Suggesting an evacuation of this magnitude would be unprecedented. Let me repeat that, UNPRECEDENTED. Yep, sounds like our City Attorney, he suggests ideas of a magnitude which are unprecedented and ultimately unworkable.
Once again, I have to ask Anonymous Blogger No. 15 to read Aguirre's memo. He does NOT suggest voluntary evacuation, as the U-T stated untruthfully. He suggests having a PLAN for voluntary evacuation if one is needed, and he leaves it up to the fire chief and others to make that decision. He did not hold a press conference or seek publicity on this one. He wrote a memo to the mayor. He called some of the officials in charge of fighting the fire and suggested this PLAN if if would be needed. Best, Don Bauder
Good points Don, you are a much better historian on San Diego than I shall ever be. Maybe the only people who were truly the "We" in "We The People" were the people who wrote the U.S. Constitution that began with that most idealistic characterization. That may have been the high point of American Democracy, after which the special interests took over and we have been declining ever since toward the ultimate fall of our democracy like so many other democracies have because we cannot escape the fundamental human flaw of greed. But there is one group that deserves our highest respect and gratitude, they our military, our fire fighters and our law enforcement officers who sacrifice their lives everyday to protect our lives and property in spite of the special interests who are producing far too many of the consequences we must continuously be protected from. Maybe the newest working generations who read your columns will do a better job of protecting quality of life for their families now that The Reader has informed them about what is really going wrong in San Diego.
Tony St. John
As mentioned, the City Attorney has NO role in the NIMS/ICS system. Yet Mr. City Attorney insists on inserting himself whenever and whereever he can. Nevertheless, Mayor Sanders forwarded the Aguirre's suggested voluntary evacuation plan to the proper authorities at the Unified Command Post where it was given proper review and declined.
To poster #18:
Lansdowne was quoted in the UT as saying an evacuation of the type described by Aguirre (a voluntary evacuation of people with respiratory health issues) would lead to looting.
This is the same police chief who proudly issued mandatory evacuations to over 500,000 people, hundreds of thousands more than necessary.
Also, Aguirre did not call a press conference to insert himself in this situation. Lansdowne, Sanders and Jarmin made the UT aware of the request. I would have thought they had more important things to do.
I smell BS.
Poster number 19 makes an excellent point. It is almost a certainty that the mayor's PR machine gave the memo to the U-T. That's one step in how the smear campaign is orchestrated -- Sainz to Kittle. In this case, it was probably one of Sainz's assistants to the self-professed news reporter, who then interviewed the police and fire chief, who were delighted to spout untruths. This hate campaign is all coordinated among the mayor's office, U-T, DA, AG, judges, Chamber of Commerce, etc. It will be interesting to see if it works. Already, some experts in journalism and social psychology around the nation have become aware of the massive smear campaign, and may come to San Diego to see if the public falls for it. Best, Don Bauder
Hey Don I hate to burst your irrational exuberance for Mr. Aguirre but you should read Scott Lewis’ new report and interview of the City Attorney... Aguirre says he not only came up with the plan but called each to lobby the Police and Fire chiefs.
Yes he privately forwarded the memo to the Mayor. But I don’t buy, I did it for the public good for a nanosecond. He did so he’d have a paper/email trail if the worst imaginable events in San Diego history occurred. Very calculated, very cold! So it seems the UT got it right. Do you owe them a retraction?
Retraction? You have to be kidding. I read Lewis's column. He does not understand that Aguirre's memo advocates a PLAN for a POSSIBLE city evacuation. It does not advocate such an evacuation. Lewis claims that Aguirre told him that he wanted an evacuation. Aguirre says he said no such thing. I believe Aguirre. Best, Don Bauder
Of course you believe in Mr. Aguirre! I bet you believe in the tooth fairy too. You know, I heard there were weapons of mass destruction in stashed in Ramona, and that's why the National Guard was called in too stop people from returning. I can hardly wait to read Mr. Aguirre's Interim Report #1,268,343 on this one.
I know the tooth fairy will never tackle San Diego's big problem: a decrepit infrastructure that can't handle more growth, but a real estate industry owning the major politicians and mainstream media. Best, Don Bauder
Mr. Bauder
From the memo itself:
"2. Access routes may be unavailable, making future evacuation impossible:"
How does this not mean we need to evacuate now? I read your responses as double talk. Implement a plan means what it says, "put the plan in action". He did not say, "let's develop a plan".
Regards...
The memo states clearly that Aguirre is concerned about people who could be injured by wildfire smoke. He advocates a PLAN for those people to evacuate IF breathing becomes extremely difficult for them. In no place does he say that breathing has become difficult for everybody right now and everybody should scram, as the U-T stated. No reasonable person can read that into the memo, although I realize the Aguirre haters are not reasonable. However, it is possible that breathing could have become so difficult throughout the county that this may have been necessary. It wasn't. So what? Aguirre wanted a PLAN for such an eventuality. Again, such a plan should have been put in place after the Cedar fire, and hopefully, one will be after this one. Best, Don Bauder
Dear Mike Aguirre, You have my permission to write a Voluntary Evacuation Plan for San Diego, especially since NO ONE ELSE APPEARS TO BE DOING IT!!!
As I see it from the area of South Clairemont Park, if an earthquake struck along the Rose Creek to Ardath Road corridor (I-5) and my family's home became unlivable, where would I go? Where would I tell my son and his family living on Gilmore and trapped on the west side of I-5 to go? Where would the residents of PB go? All of PB would be up here with me on the hills of Clairemont trying to make it out on an undrivable I-5.
South to Tijuana? West to the ocean? North to gridlocked Orange County to fight with many millions over limited resources like (dare I say it) water? East to the desert? That might be the easiest escape route once some of us make it safely to I-8. But where will the water be? and the gas? and how much traffic can the east county roads take if all of the city decides to head to Arizona? Do they have a plan for us when we arrive? So many questions!!
I'm confused. I'd like every commentor here ridiculing Aguirre to tell me what is wrong with evacuation plans? Or is this just about Mike Aguirre and his style? I don't care who sounds the alarm. I don't have to like that person or want to vote for him. This city needs to tune in to the DISCUSSION. This city is a trap, wedged between sea and desert in the corner of this country. THIS CITY HAD BETTER HAVE AN EVACuATION PLAN and you idiots who think this is funny or ridiculous had better answer to me as a private citizen. Your behavior is strange for a San Diegan. San Diegans should be alerted and now is the best time. What is wrong with that? Thank you, Mike!!
Mr. Bauder,
Let me ask this way. If Mr. Aguirre writes, "Access routes may be unavailable, making future evacuation impossible", is he not talking about the need to evacuate now?
I wasn't asking about anything else in the memo and would like you to address this specifically.
FYI, I voted for Aguirre but have lost faith in his ability. Not a hater.
No. 27: I agree that in the case of an earthquake, getting out of the county would be very difficult. Ditto for fires. San Diego has to realize that it is located on shaky ground (earthquake risk) and in Santa Ana country (fire risk). It should plan for future evacuations. Maybe this will wake people up.
No. 28: No, he is not talking about the need for everybody to evacuate now. Some with lung problems might have wanted to evacuate at the time he wrote the memo, yes -- but nowhere did he say everyone should leave now. Once again, the man has been smeared by people who will stop at nothing to distort his words. Unfortunately, the people who will stop at nothing have all the money and media access in San Diego. Best, Don Bauder
It is Aguirre's job to be the city attorney not to recommend fire plans. Four years ago we had plenty of smoke in the city and very few people were affected. We have a fire department and a health department to take care of these matters. In any case Aguirre's idea for evacuating the entire city was rediculousr. There's no way it could be done. The evacuation of 500,000 people was possible because most of them went to friend's and rlative's home.
People have remarked that Aguirre has attacked corruption in the city. what came from his was lots of sound and fury signifying nothing. It's the district attorney's job to prosecute felony's, not the city attorney's. His attacks have forced the city to hire outside wasting the city's limited funds. In any case there have been no prosecutions based upon his attacks.
Aguirre is on the City committee devoted to handling emergencies. It was part of his duty to make recommendations. He did not recommend immediate evacuation; he wanted a plan for one in case people suffered smoke inhalation damages. His words are being distorted. Please read his memo above. The DA is supposed to prosecute felonies, but she will never touch big crooks with enough money to contribute to her campaign. What has ever happened to the case against Mike Madigan? Don't hold your breath. The DA is merely a politician, and a dishonest one at that. The city hired outside attorneys in recent cases when there was no reason to do so. It was Sanders and the council wasting money, not Aguirre. His tackling of excessive City employee pay and perks is necessary to keep the City out of bankruptcy. Many of his critics are developers and establishment figures who want to suck money out of the city. Best, Don Bauder
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