The lies of Greg Giles

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The Venice Gondolier admitted that they are scared of me in a recent editorial, a line so wonderful that I am using it in political ads. This, however, has led the newspaper to go beyond stating their opinions. So disturbed at my candidacy, the paper is now actively in the game of trying to affect political outcome by peddling fictions, this through the work of their star ace cub reporter (and Alaskan ex-pat) Greg Giles, who has been inventing an alternate universe and, in issue after issue, reporting this set of fictions as fact.

Sounds like a paranoid delusion, right? Because the next question you would have is: Why would the Gondo do that?

One doesn't need to look too far into the organization to understand how truly scared the newspaper is of me. Giles' immediate supervisor is Bob Mudge, an ex-attorney who, prior to working for the Gondolier, was an in-house attorney with the Boone law firm.

For those of you who are new in town, Boone, Boone, Boone, Hines, & Koda is the local law firm that has financially supported the campaigns of the current majority of city council and who also represent any land developer who wants to get anything built in Venice or annexed into Venice. Attorney Jeff Boone is currently the chair of the Charter Review Board, which has been tasked with reviewing council members' benefits.

Below is a slightly modified version of an email that was sent to Gondo editor Bob Mudge on November 2, detailing some of the many recent fictions that Giles has invented.

BTW: Online campaign reports, to verify statements below, can be found at http://www.venicegov.com/Municipal_links/City_Clerk/election.htm

TO: Bob Mudge
FROM: John Patten
SUBJECT: Corrections requested

Today's paper was a wowser of misinformation, and it could only be deliberate. I refuse to believe that Greg Giles is so stupid as to make these kinds of misstatements by accident. I'll get to those in a minute.

But first, regarding factual misrepresentations, apparently deliberate ones, made by Giles in recent issues of the Venice Gondolier:

Sue Lang has not contributed to my campaign. Nor has her husband. Giles cited my campaign reports, but no such entries exist in these readily available public records. Giles has made this up.

The Venice Taxpayers League has never sued the City of Venice. Giles has made this up.

Here's a two-fer of glorious journalistic fraud that made it to the front page, above the fold: Despite the fact that the Gondo printed it as gospel (swear on a stack of pancakes), there is no campaign law prohibiting city council candidates from working fair booths of political parties. Giles has made this up. Morever, contrary to a statement made in the Gondo, there is nothing in the oath of candidacy that addresses the issue. Giles has made this up.

I graduated from USF in 1990, did my internships with the city in 1989 and 1990. Giles has me graduating in 1990 and doing the required internships in 1999, some nine years after they would have been required. Giles has made this up based on his lack of knowledge about how higher education works.

I do not have Asperger's, nor have I stated that I do have it. Giles has made this up.

Now, regarding the glaring, well no other word will do, lies that appeared in today's paper:

Accepting loans from anyone other than yourself for campaign purposes is a violation of law. I have not done it, nor have I indicated I have done it on my campaign reports. Giles has made this up.

I have not accepted $1,000 from anyone, nor have I reported anything of the kind. Accepting more than $500 from any single person is a violation of council campaign law. Giles has made this up.

Two creditors have also donated to my campaign, but the donations are unrelated to why they are listed as creditors. Giles made a bad assumption, then invented the campaign loans based on his bad assumption. Giles has made this up.

I did not say my credit card debt was for personal expenses. Giles asked me if it was for personal expenses several times. I refused to answer several times, with him begging, "Aw, c'mon...."

I finally stated, "Whatever. Do you have any questions about the issues?" So, again, gee what a surprise, Giles has made this up.

So that's seven glaringly invented fictions, plus two misinterpretations based on lack of basic knowledge, and all designed to paint me in the least positive light possible. Nice work.

I do not mind the Gondo publishing their opinions. That is a First Amendment right. I do object to the Gondo publishing their invented fictions as fact. That is not protected by the First Amendement.

You are free to not like me.

You should not be free to lie about me. Unfortunately, your publication and I have a serious disagreement about that last bit.