Politics & Government

City Manager Writes Open Letter to 'Courier' Calling for Retraction

Jeff Kolin requests that the newspaper write a retraction for wrongly accusing city staff of falsifying documents. The "Beverly Hills Courier" has yet to comply.

Mr. Clif Smith
Publisher
The Beverly Hills Courier
8840 West Olympic Blvd.
Beverly Hills, CA 90211

Dear Mr. Smith,

On behalf of the City of Beverly Hills, I strongly dispute the Courier's July 13, 2012 article entitled "City Staff Falsifies Water Rate Increase Documents." The Courier's reflexive caricaturing of City staff and irresponsible allegations raised by the Courier's reporting must be challenged.

The topic of the article—proposed —is a serious and significant one, meriting extensive analysis and thorough public review. The Courier's article details efforts by City staff to provide outreach to a key stakeholder on this issue, namely homeowners.

While homeowner association reactions to the proposed water rate increase differed, these were healthy discussions that have and will continue to guide the City Council in drafting sound public policy. The City staff-produced report was accurate in characterizing this situation.

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While the Courier has every right to explore the judgment and performance of City staff, the Courier acts irresponsibly when it features an inflammatory headline which alleges that Beverly Hills suffers from illegal or irresponsible government actions perpetrated by dishonest staff.

Let me be clear: no City employee falsified documents.

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City staff is proud to serve the Beverly Hills community. We are committed to high standards of excellence, and every City employee I know works very hard to serve our residents and businesses with integrity and professionalism.

The Courier does our community a huge disservice perpetuating inflammatory stories of this nature. Please retract your headline in the July 13 issue.

Jeff Kolin
Beverly Hills City Manager

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