Tag: George Boardman

County-clerk recorder Greg Diaz wrote this about The Union columnist George Boardman’s blog entry from earlier this week: “After reading Mr. Boardman’s blog, I called Mr. Boardman to invite him to my office to discuss his blog entry. I left a message as no one answered the phone. I hope he comes in to discuss with me.”

Diaz —now in his third term as Clerk-Recorder — added that Boardman’s post was “at best misinformed.”

But Boardman is refusing to meet with Diaz; instead he is hiding behind a statement — a tactic more common of a public relations person (AKA “flak”) than a real journalist. Of course, Boardman has a career in p.r. The ex-p.r. man wrote:

“Diaz left me a voice mail Friday that I didn’t pick up until about 7:30 p.m. and I have to be out of the house early Monday, so I’m posting my response now:  https://ncroadkill.com/2019/01/26/heres-my-response-to-diazs-claim-of-misinformation/ (AKA I can’t meet with him).

Boardman also declined to post the comment I left on his blog that was stuck in moderation.

Editor’s note: I am out of town, but I noticed a post on The Union columnist George Boardman’s blog “County election office comes stumbling out of the gate again” that had a big hole: No comment from the Clerk-Recorder’s office. So I took 30 seconds to email their Office for comment. (The response is below).

Let’s hope George meets with the Office and corrects the misinformation on his blog — as George did with an erroneous post about me earlier in the week.

Exit question: Why didn’t Boardman contact the Clerk-Recorder’s office for comment? He didn’t seek comment me either — even to confirm basic facts that were wrong. That’s Journalism 101. I’ve noticed these holes on his blog but also in his column in The Union:

Jeff,

After reading Mr. Boardman’s blog, I called Mr. Boardman to invite him to my office to discuss his blog entry. I left a message as no one answered the phone. I hope he comes in to discuss with me.

As for the article: My official announcement came in the form of a Notice of Election which was published in the Union on 1/19/19. I received the official announcement from the Governor and the Special Election Calendar from the Secretary of State the morning of January 16th, 2019. The Notice of Election was sent to the Union the morning of January 18th. I have attached the Notice of Election for your reference. [It is here: notice of special election]

We noticed the Union got dates wrong, so our office called the Union asking them to correct the dates. It is interesting Mr. Boardman is critical of our office when the Union makes a mistake.

Mr. Boardman talks about ballots in 2016 being sent to vote-by-mail voters were missing a page. Our staff remembers getting a complaint from one person that they were missing page two. We gave them page two. Since only one person complained, we feel perhaps the voter misplaced their original page two. We received one complaint from an elderly voter.

Mr. Boardman claims in 2016, ballots were late getting verified. We do not know what he means. In 2014, I found a printing error and we made the correction in a timely manner. The printers’ inkjet nozzle malfunctioned leaving spots on our ballots. I even asked Tom O’Toole to come to the office to view the ballots, and Tom concurred with our evaluation of the problem. I spoke to Tom today, and he can verify my statements are true.

In 2010, some registrars were counting undervotes as votes cast. This was based upon a federal ruling. This issue is still unsettled to this day.

I hope Mr. Boardman comes to speak with me and my staff. I copied Sandy Sjoberg and Abby Kelly as they have been around since 2007 when I was appointed. If you have any questions or require additional information, please let me know. Also, Sandy and Abby, if you have anything to add, please do so.

We have a great elections’ office and Mr. Boardman’s blog entry is at best misinformed. Thank You. Greg.

In a response to another one of his error-ridden reports earlier this week, George Boardman wrote on his blog (and this is a direct quote):
“As for my supposed conflict of interest … I never wrote about The Stonehouse when I was the business writer for The Union. In the few instances when I wrote about other restaurants, I disclosed my conflict upfront.” (Boardman’s wife was a co-owner of the Stonehouse).

“never wrote about The Stonehouse.” … “I disclosed my conflict upfront.” OK. But I did a quick search on TheUnion.com (this took less than 5 minutes), and  I found this article with Boardman’s byline in July 2005: “No place like home for local wines.”

In fact, the online article by George had (1) included Stonehouse in the article and (2) there was no disclosure. You can read it here:

“The Stonehouse restaurant has emphasized local wines since it opened in Nevada City more than a year ago, and bar manager Joe Benavent reports that they’ve been well received.

“’What you feature by the glass is what sells, and we’ve made it a point to feature those wines,’ he said. ‘They are outselling everything, actually.’

“About 30 of the 75 vintages on the restaurant’s wine list are from Nevada County, and Benavent said interest in them is equally divided between area residents and visitors.

“Nevada City, Indian Springs, and Lucchesi wines lead the local contingent, but all of the local wines carried by the restaurant “sell very well” against wines from outside the area, Benavent said.

“To contact staff writer George Boardman, e-mail georgeb@theunion.com or call 477-4236.”

And this is the best George could do for an explanation. In the comment section of his blog, George  fessed up: “ …The article quoted the bar manager at The Stonehouse, where my wife was a partner at the time, but a note at the end of the article acknowledging my conflict never made it into the paper..” (AKA, the “dog ate my homework.”)

And he didn’t address this one: “I never wrote about The Stonehouse.” Even though he did.

Go figure! Small towns are a hoot!

I sighed when I read the latest hatchet job on the personal blog of George Boardman, who moonlights as The Union’s columnist each week. (Or is it the other way around?)

News outlets often have policies that discourage this because of the risk for conflicts, discrediting the newspaper, and double standards. An example is here.

Boardman’s blog had gone dormant, but with a New Year comes a new hatchet job. In his latest post, Boardman stitched together a string of half-truths and outright lies that confused time and place to build a false narrative — a tactic that I presume The Union would not condone in its news pages. At least get the facts straight.

*”Jeffie had been in Diaz’s camp since he was editor of The Union.” Wrong. And provable. Jeff Ackerman and/or the editorial writer, not me, wrote The Union’s editorials praising Greg Diaz (here and here). I had nothing to do with them. I was never asked for input. That would come out in a deposition during “discovery” proceedings. The Union’s editor, Brian Hamilton, should remember this too.

*”Pelline has been a reliable foot soldier for Diaz over the years, contributing money to past campaigns …” Over the years? Boardman muddied the waters with a vague phrase: Our family’s contribution to Diaz’ campaign was in 2010, long after I was a newspaper journalist and when I was writing this blog. It was disclosed too. (Not surprisingly, Barry Pruett has been gleefully sharing Boardman’s post this afternoon, since Pruett was the loser in this race. In fact, Pruett, a gymnastics-school owner turned small-town lawyer, lost in every precinct. Ouch!)

*”He has certainly reminded me on several occasions, informing me that (Oracle’s) Larry Ellison … has praised his work in the past.” Huh? That also would be proven false. In fact, I have noted that Ellison was a little steamed about this article I wrote for The Chronicle because it expressed skepticism. Example: “But before you nominate ‘people’s champion’ Larry Ellison for president, remember that the concept of a network computer is not new — in fact, it dates back to the ’70s.”

*”It shouldn’t surprise anybody that the recent death of Herb Kelleher, long-time head of Southwest Airlines, prompted Jeffie to write that it was a ‘privilege’ to interview Kelleher during his big-time reporting days. (Privilege? You would think Pelline was granted an audience with a potentate.)” That’s downright distasteful, since I was eulogizing Herb the week he had died.

You get the point. It is time The Union re-examine whether Boardman is meeting its own standards of journalism that parent Swift outlines for its newspapers. Does it condone this?

Meanwhile, lawyers have their own challenges.: “Considering the fake news phenomenon, newspaper and TV reporters tend to score poorly in the honesty stakes.

Lawyers and business executives are trusted even less while lobbyists are rock bottom with only 8 percent of Gallup’s respondents saying they have high or very high honesty and ethical standards,” according to a recent article at Forbes.com. Ouch!

 

Editor’s note: This is one of the most pathetic resumes I’ve read for a journalist who deems himself qualified to pass judgment on others’ professional achievements as The Union’s paid weekly columnist— whether it’s other journalists or elected officials. Small towns are a hoot!

“Boardman to cover business for The Union
The Union staff
March 22, 2004

“George Boardman, a veteran journalist and public-relations professional, has been named business reporter for The Union.

“In 2001 and 2002, Boardman served as assistant city editor for The Union. He previously served as a copy editor for the Independent Newspaper Group in the San Francisco Peninsula.

“His extensive resume also includes stints as business editor and city editor for the San Mateo Times in the early 1970s. He worked in public relations for a variety of businesses in the 1980s and worked as a public-relations writer and consultant through much of the 1990s.

“In recent months, he has contributed several free-lance articles for The Union.

“A San Francisco native, Boardman is married to Mimi Boardman, a co-owner of the Stonehouse Restaurant in Nevada City. They have one daughter in Portland, Ore.”

The article is here.