Earlier this afternoon, I half-jokingly put up a photo of Orange County Register senior editorial writer Steve Greenhut, challening him (and the Register) to write on the attrocious attempt by the Coast Community College District and the KOCE Foundation to change state law to allow the District to sell KOCE Television to the KOCE Foundation for less than fair market value (creating a de facto multi-million dollar gift of taxpayer dollars to the Foundation).
Steve Greenhut, ladies and gentlemen, has risen to the challenge (click here for his whole piece).
Over on the Register website, on the O.C. Punch Editorial Blogpage, Greenhut pens a piece where he starts by saying:
Well, I guess the gloves are officially off.
Greenhut generously quotes this publication, and says:
Greenhut goes on to say:
"Now, I’ve been on KOCE (Rick Reiff’s show) and I like some of its programming, although, in honesty, I don’t watch much of it. I would not watch any of the religious programming, given that I am not into those name-it-and-claim-it shows. I personally would prefer the continuation of the current format. I don’t know the details of KOCE’s negotiations with the Register, but I would like to have KOCE in our building, where I could perhaps occasionally appear on their shows. But what I like doesn’t matter. What matters is the law. The rules are the rules. Public facilities must be sold at fair-market value. The idea that the trustees would behave this way smacks of favoritism, perhaps even religious bigotry. It suggests that the trustees are poor stewards of public assets.
I would not legislate my preferences, yet these trustees are trying to rig the rules in favor of their personal preferences. The legislation now before the Legislature would allow the district to sell at less than fair-market value. This is outrageous and unjust. The bill should be stopped."
Here, here!