"Contract City" - A Remembrance
A PAINFUL ANNIVERSARY
As this Labor Day holiday approached a friend took the time to remind me that Monday is the fifth anniversary of an article written by Tad Friend and published in The New Yorker magazine about the events that happened in Costa Mesa a few months earlier.
AN EXCELLENT ARTICLE
Friend had spent a lot of time in our city in the spring of 2011, following the death of Huy Pham, trying to sort out what happened on St. Patrick's Day of that year. The result was the article which you can read HERE.
THEIR ACTIONS FULFILLED OUR GREATEST FEARS
It is with no small bit of irony that in the intervening years since he wrote his piece we've seen Costa Mesa municipal government staffing dwindle by fully one third and those jobs replaced by outsourced companies or contractors. We've seen our public safety organizations intentionally shrunk to unsafe levels. It's not really surprising considering the strong anti-labor bias by the current City Council majority. Their actions over the past five plus years have demonstrated just how deeply they despise labor.
NOW IS THE TIME TO REMEMBER
As this campaign season heats up it seems like a perfectly appropriate time to revisit this issue as portrayed, not by local activists, but by a skilled writer with no skin in the game.
A LITTLE HELP...
In case you've forgotten what it was like back then, here are some video reminders for you.
THE NEWS...
THE WORST PRESS CONFERENCE EVER!
THE PUBLIC REACTION
As this Labor Day holiday approached a friend took the time to remind me that Monday is the fifth anniversary of an article written by Tad Friend and published in The New Yorker magazine about the events that happened in Costa Mesa a few months earlier.
Friend had spent a lot of time in our city in the spring of 2011, following the death of Huy Pham, trying to sort out what happened on St. Patrick's Day of that year. The result was the article which you can read HERE.
It is with no small bit of irony that in the intervening years since he wrote his piece we've seen Costa Mesa municipal government staffing dwindle by fully one third and those jobs replaced by outsourced companies or contractors. We've seen our public safety organizations intentionally shrunk to unsafe levels. It's not really surprising considering the strong anti-labor bias by the current City Council majority. Their actions over the past five plus years have demonstrated just how deeply they despise labor.
As this campaign season heats up it seems like a perfectly appropriate time to revisit this issue as portrayed, not by local activists, but by a skilled writer with no skin in the game.
In case you've forgotten what it was like back then, here are some video reminders for you.
THE NEWS...
THE WORST PRESS CONFERENCE EVER!
THE PUBLIC REACTION
Labels: Huy Pham, New Yorker Magazine, Tad Friend
posted by The Pot Stirrer at 9/04/2016 01:28:00 AM
1 Comments:
Thank you for sharing this.
Unfortunately, some who seek office in Costa Mesa want to rise to power by scapegoating others, whether it be illegal immigrants, public employees, or motel people. What other historical figures used this tactic? Certainly not Lincoln or Reagan.
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