A letter to John Holic: Sir, we have caught you fibbing again

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My problem here with Holic, one of many, is that he claims to have all of the answers for Venice yet he is incredibly oblivious to basic facts of recent history. This would be forgivable in, say, fellow CQGer Bob Daniels, who only moved here four years ago, but Holic has lived here for what, 20 years? 30? I forget which of those two numbers he keeps touting.

The point is that the events in Holic's mangled version of recent history all fall well within those time frames and should have been as obvious to him as the name of this town. If, that is, he was paying any attention at all to then-current events. He says he did pay attention, but these kind of mistakes are akin to not knowing who was vice-president under George W. Bush.


To: John Holic
From: John Patten
Date: October 27, 2010
Subject: FYI on the formation of the CQG

In an email dated October 25, John Holic wrote the following:

"Accusation: In Happer’s October 23 e-mail he states: 'Citizens for Quality Government (CQG) is a political action committee founded in 2000 by the Boone law firm. A more accurate name would be a small group of wealthy good ole boys for an overly development friendly City Council.’
Fact: Numerous CQG members have told me that the Boone Law Firm did not found CQG so Mr. Happer’s statement is a lie. The organization’s recognized founder was retired businessman and community activist the late Jack Meyerhoff. The Boone Law Firm merely filed the paperwork."

Attached as a PDF (9 pages, pops in new window), you will find the formation papers of the CQG from the year 2000. Curiously absent is ANY mention of Jack Meyerhoff.

Then-mayor Merle Graser is fronted to be the lead, but anyone who knows or remembers Merle knows that he never lifted a finger when it came to political stuff. He barely had a 50% attendance rate at council due to golf and travel engagements. Also of note is that in the formation papers and letters, Boone keeps referring to the group as "our" or "we," avoiding stating that the CQG is merely a client.

There were no illusions at the time of these events and I remember them well. Boone was heading this baby up, and he made no attempt to hide the fact.