Contra Costa County Supervisor Mary Piepho has been asked by some to clarify statements made by a local publication that she does not speak to the press.
Published online on Sept. 28, according to the article announcing Oakley Mayor Doug Hardcastle will challenge Piepho in the next election (now published Oct. 2 in print), they placed an ambiguous statement that left readers confused on whether “The Press” meant the Brentwood Press or all media in general.
The statement created confusion that some of our readers reached out asking if Piepho was dodging ECT as well. We had to explain that she has never dodged us and has answered all of our questions and the issue is regarding The Press newspapers.
The line read:
“It’s unknown if Piepho, who’s held the seat since 2008 and ran unopposed in 2012, will seek re-election. She does not speak to The Press.”
Ignoring the glaring error that Piepho was actually elected in 2004, some of her constituents came to the conclusion that based off that line Piepho does not speak to any media—even sending us an email asking if she refuses to speak with us.
We reached out to Piepho to get an explanation where she admitted to not speaking with the Brentwood Press Publication highlighting years of being misquoted, misinterpreted and their readers getting the wrong information.
“In their recent article regarding the Supervisors Race, they did not call or reach out. If they are going to say I won’t talk to them in print, they should at least make an attempt,” Piepho explained.
She further highlighted that when The Press does reach out for a comment or quote, she has to refer them to the Board of Supervisors Meeting which is on TV weekly to get it from the video or have a statement provided by email so there is a record.
“When they misquote me and it’s brought to their attention, they will not correct it. You cannot trust a publication that doesn’t provide accurate information to their readers,” explained Piepho. “They do a complete disservice to their readers when inaccuracy is brought to their attention and they refuse to correct it. Unfortunately they are lying to their readers and the readers just don’t know. You can’t talk to people who are not responsible to their readership in printing accurate information. They are providing character mischaracterizations and that is not professional.”
When asked if she had anything against the media, she said absolutely not.
“The media is one of the greatest tools to talk to the taxpayers and reach the people. Anybody in the media knows that. I do not have this problem with anyone else. When Rick Lemyre was there, I spent hours with him to get accurate information out. But he is not there. You don’t see anyone else in the media printing or saying that I won’t talk to them.”
She highlighted that she has been quoted in several other newspapers and magazines across the state, Television channels, radio, and national publications.
“When any of those media outlets has an error brought to their attention, as credible media, they correct them for their readers. On several occasions, I brought errors to The Press attention and they refused to correct them. So I drew a line saying they are not interested in educating and informing readers,” said Piepho. “It became clear they are more interested in fallacious headlines and I can’t compete in that.
According to Piepho, she offered to meet with Greg Robinson shortly after he purchased the publication to clear the air and go over corrections. He declined a meeting.
Piepho contends the bad blood started over an exchange with The Press editor Ruth Roberts who was not allowed into a staff meeting—Piepho says Roberts believed the meeting to be open to the public which was not a Brown Act Meeting.
Piepho says Roberts did not like what transpired and threatened her with bad press saying “she would regret it” in keeping her from attending a private meeting. This was a meeting Piepho called with school staff that was not required to be noticed to the public.
One former Press Reporter stated Piepho doesn’t like the hard questions.
Piepho disagrees saying “prove it” and that everything is on the table to be talked about as she was elected to represent the people.
“Everything is fair game. I’ve taken thousands of questions from the media since 2002 when I began campaigning for the Supervisor seat. The media has as much responsibility as the person they are interviewing in putting out truth and accuracy. If not, it’s a one sided game,” explained Piepho. “I will always communicate on the level of truth and accuracy. You may not like the answers, but I’ve never shied away from giving an answer.”
Piepho further explained that she understands some reporters do have an agenda, but there is a difference between a reporter and a columnist.
When asked if she sends The Press her press releases. She said no.
“If I did, I’d be a contradiction and using them as a platform. I’d become a hypocrite on my own stance. It’s unfortunate because there are people who read that paper, but you have to stand on your principals which are integrity, honesty and hard work,” said Piepho.
When asked if she believes The Press should apologize, she said they should aim it at their readers.
“I think they should apologize to their readers for misinforming them for so long,” stated Piepho. “For them to put in their article that I refuse to speak to The Press is ambiguous and open to interpretation. They did not even given me a chance to comment. They should pick up the phone and call me or my staff. Clearly they are not doing their job”
When asked what specifically ThePress did not get right, she named numerous examples including the very article which got her election year wrong.
Recently, they ran a Letter to the Editor which Piepho says was not fact checked.
According to the Letter, the writer said he reached out to Piepho’s office and did not get a response. Piepho says they did reach out to him and did speak to him.
“Rick Lemyre would have done his job and call to confirm the facts before letting that go to print. I have no problem if people have a difference of opinion than my own, they are entitled to it, but what they are not entitled to is their own facts,” said Piepho.
Piepho closed the interview by explaining that readers should not believe everything they read in the newspaper, but it’s the reader’s job to find the facts and come to their own determination on any particular topic.
“As long as the information being produced is accurate, the public can then be better informed while forming opinions based on facts instead of agendas,” said Piepho. “A more informed public creates better long term decisions for all.”
40 comments
Good for you Mary! I’ve “Dumped the Press” a long time ago. Sick and tired of that rag yellowing in my driveway.
Thank you Mary! The problems with the Press continue to make it bird cage liner.
At least the Press plays fair. They made Doug Hardcastle sound like a hippie a few months ago where he was forced to demanded a correction when Oakley discussed their weed ordinance. Hate that they just throw it in my driveway. Brings a whole new term to yellow journalism since I dont pick it up and it turns yellow
Doug hardcastle sounds a little thick. I saw this originally on FB and his numbers were off by over 300 million dollars! THREE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS. I don’t want someone who doesn’t get the basics trying to get on a board with a budget that he doesn’t understand. He is way to wishy washy with no direction. Has he even contacted anyone at the county or with the fire department to see if his thoughts are realistic? I think they are laughing over in Martinez. Sorry Doug, but I already had my doubts about you and now you have confirmed my worst fears. You sucked on iron house and you haven’t done squat in your rotation as mayor. In this piece you contradicted yourself many times. Stick to your RV business!
Seems a bit opportunistic ECT that you would write negative about another publication. Seems like you just want to throw mud at someone else because you can.
Fair comments in our book
Talking about threats, wasn’t Piepho one of the supervisors stating retaliation to the Sheriff Union?
A lot of hypocrites on this article. We all know ECTs connection with the Piephos. This article is a prime example of many bias articles.
What exactly is our “connection” to the Piephos? We simply interviewed her based on what our readers were asking us.
Also JS, she has never advertised on this page or cut us a check so I am not sure what connection you are referring to.
Yep. Boy you have that right. Typical Political journalism. Piepho needs to be replaced. We are going to help with the campaign to do just that. Representation is biased.
Pat, aren’t you the silly person that wanted to have Marsh Creek made into a private road? I’m thinking you are just trying to find someone who will help you accomplish that ridiculous idea.
Hardcastle might be your guy if he were electable! (Psssst….He’s not).
So good luck with that.
No I live in Apple Hill fyi
It seems some people on here, one in particular, doesn’t have a life and it seems ‘he’ has all the answers. Sad he has no life outside this blog. Pitty.
Stan: Sooooo,You have it figured out Get a life dude If I had a dollar for every comment I have read that mirrors your ‘whoa is me when you have had your azz kicked Id have a lotta dollaz.
it’s text book inferiority complex & denial but I’m sure you are ok with it. Pitty yourself because none of us will ever
Sad Very sad
Thanks ECT for publishing this truth
Who cares what connections they have as long as they are getting information from the source. As soon as people stop talking to a publication, you know things are going south. It also encourages other elected officials not to speak with them either.
I go on this page and I see information by lots of different elected officials from congress to local fire boards. Looks like they will talk to ECT and I am glad, at least you know info is correct and accurate.
JS, Since “We all know” of your infatuation and overt failed attempts to discredit anything associated with County Supervisor Mary Piepho, why would anyone buy into your recycled BS? Given the fact that you are going to extremes to both imply and assume in your latest attempt at character assassination, it galvanizes your stature as a troll. A desperate troll at that.
If you weren’t so busy trying to peddle your BS, you might have actually caught the facts reported here on ECT. Like the very ones that debunked the Sheriff’s unions allegations (The unions allegations were found to have no merit by a Superior Court Judge and were tossed out). But that didn’t stop you from trying to sell it once again. Pathetic. Do you even know what an allegation is or is that beyond your skill set? Your biggest shortcoming is that you don’t want to accept the facts in their entirety, only the disproven headlines that suit your personal agenda. Let me spell it out for you since you are buried so deep: Yours is a prime example of BIAS.
It is valuable that ECT has many political connections, which is the nexus of why this site is very good at what it does. ECT has the ability to provide up to the minute news and information right from the source. Try as you might to twist that into a bad thing, it is not. There is a huge value in being able to pick up a phone or send an email to those that know what is occurring in our area and report back to the community. Too bad the local press lost sight of that, while burning bridges. It is the press that has done a great disservice to the east county community. Leave it to someone as biased as you to overlook the obvious.
JS did you bother to check out the motives behind the Sheriff’s UNION lawsuit? You should read this and then Google who is behind the law firm of Lucia Sterns.
And you thought this was just a random action done on behalf of the public? Don’t be fooled.
https://contracostabee.com/mary-jo-rossi-teaches-cops-to-destroy-opponents/
As far as I am concerned the press is not really a newspaper since it is only published once a week. It comes across to me as more of an advertiser and I rarely (if ever) get my news there. I guess if you are easily amused by pet of the week or where the “look at me crowd” took their copy, then it might be of some value for someone…… but not for me. It goes straight into the recycle bin every Friday. I don’t want it sitting in my driveway advertising that I’m not home yet.
I don’t blame Mary Pepho for not spoon feeding them. I see a lot of inaccuracies in their stories and wouldn’t want to be a part of that either. It lost any credibility it may have had at one time when Rick Lemere departed. It is sad to learn that they don’t print corrections or take accountability for misinformation. That’s just not right. What happened to responsible journalism??
The press is anything but a hometown newspaper.
She needs to go
Pat, it must be what some call, silly season. Guess you don’t know do you? This isn’t Piepho’s first rodeo.
You might want to do a little homework before you wander too far off the reservation.
Piepho is questionable at best for her ethics. She has done nothing for the quality of life in east county. She must go. Her greed and ethics have been exposed.
JS,
Could you be more ambiguous with your smarmy comments or were you simply hoping for a job offer from the press? This article is about clarity, none of which you seem to posses. It’s no wonder you missed the point. If you have been following credible news outlets including this one, you would know that Ms. Piepho’s accomplishment’s are numerous including her work on many Delta issues. As far as ethics, you failed to raise any credible example. I’m not sure what your problem is, but you might want to have it looked at.
Exactly – been a subject of her ‘personal lack of ethics’. Anyone who has not had personal dealings with her or who doesn’t know others who have had the same experience need to keep their opinions to themselves. This is just a forum to feed their lack of having a life. This person has and does not serve the PEOPLE she serves her own agenda. Good for you JS for telling it like it is. We are not the only ones with this in-sight of her performance.
The comments attacking anyone who disagrees with the Piepho cult are alive and well. Too bad it’s just a couple of people selling the same old attack method and using different aliases. Piepho needs to go. It is time to make east county a better place. She failed that on all levels.
JS,
It’s a shame that you can’t see the blatant hypocrisy in all of your posts. You haven’t established a shred of credibility other than to carry on with childish and ambiguios rants. In fact you are slipping even further. A smart person would put down the shovel, however you keep digging your own hole faster and faster. You have even lost track about what this post is all about. No surprise. Like I said, it’s too bad you don’t see what is obvious to everyone else. The only real issue you have is with yourself.
ECT you have built up credibility over the last few years of being the best news site to provide news to the public when its needed better than anyone else in East County. You are may favorite news site, but articles like this bring you down. Like many others, I get the paper on my driveway and it goes straight into the recycle bin but I don’t need to say that.
Although you presents information that clears the air on who Mary Piepho will give information to, we all know the press misquotes people. i was misquoted on the homeless shelter in brentwood which is hard to do because i thought those meetings are recorded. But why stoop to their level and instead just focus on you? I get trying to put out the info, i really do, but this is below you.
Did the Press deserve this article, yes. But in doing so it makes you look childish.
Thank you for the feedback, keep in mind we received several emails and social media questions about this topic. We simply wanted to ask Supervisor Piepho where she stood. Personally, I’ve never had an issue with getting questions answered. Misquotes should not be accepted and should be corrected.
Katie, while a few clowns have attempted to alter the topic, it’s beyond misquotes. The press routinely publishes bad information and apparently when given the correct info, they refuse to correct their errors. In my book that’s unacceptable and the point to this link.
Thank you ECT for bringing this out. Ask yourself, if not here and now, who holds the press accountable?
ECT don’t let the Piepho clansmen bring your news media down. It must cost us taxpayers thousands to have the Piepho group quickly answer and trash anyone who disagrees with her. Another reason for her untrustworthy ways. Katie has a point. Stay neutral and don’t lower yourself to Piepho mud antics. This battle for her seat is way to early for you to be judged like the other media outlets being judged here. This article shows your preference for her. That’s OK, but not for a neutral media you are trying to portray.
We have no preference for supervisor at this time because only Doug Hardcastle has announced to run for the seat–who we interviewed last week. You can’t even pick or endorse until after the filing period closes. Just to clarify, we reached out to her, not the other way around on this. Some in our audience asked for the clarification.
@no rumor here,
Thanks to you & Mr. Hardcastle for giving us all a prime example of what ‘mud antics’ look like. You wouldn’t be biased now would you or do you just not practice what you preach? There is no denying that Hardcastle went negative right out of the gate and you just jumped right on board! I doubt there will be much of a battle, but you can bet his published words will come back to haunt him. The woman has chops and handily beat an incumbent and a former Assemblyman. I doubt she is very concerned about a political novice like Hardcastle.
But here in the land of make believe you can embellish whatever fantasy you may have.
The truth hurts, doesn’t it?
Untrustworthy? Well here is a shiny mirror for you. Enjoy.
Once a jerk always a jerk. At least your consistent. Never have seen an intelligent comment coming from you. It must be sad to be so bitter. Thank you to the contributors who have the courage to express their views without sarcasm acting like a jackass.
I can see where most readers of this venue would be confused, easily at that, on whether “The Press” meant the Brentwood Press or all media in general, especially when they were reading it in “The Press”.
If I’m reading an article in the New York Times and the writer refers to “The Times” I’m not scratching my head wondering if he meant The New York Times.
Loved this article simply for the entertaining banter that followed, and certainly not for the grammatical effort and logic that was lacking.
Let the campaigning begin! Let’s shift the conversation to the issues. There are many of them.
Mr. Wells, Here is an important east county issue for you. Just cut and pasted from the Brentwood wants their own Fire Department. What say you ?
Can you believe it ? The Times article by Mathew Artz states ” Leaders are gearing up for another tax measure “. This is unacceptable to continue to waste our tax dollars for a third time in a couple years to ask for more money when the answer is clear. A judge should put a stop to this. What is even more interesting are two facts shown. The first is all the station closures are districts represented by local 1230. Secondly, out of all nine districts that have worse response times than 2007, Only one increased response times by over a minute. That district, the only district to have a faster response time and no station closures is Crockett. A Volunteer Fire District. When ECCFPD did have volunteers there was a budget to run that division. That was cancelled due to hardships of the ECCFPD costs. Just think that wasting several hundred thousand dollars on tax measures and planning to do it again would allow the volunteer program to continue for five years. The State, LAFCO, The Courts and the People of this state must stop multiple times a district can use public funds to ask for more taxes after being told no more than once by the people. At least a three year waiting period. Maybe volunteers is the answer to increasing response times according to the 9 district study.
@BI95… your quoting the Times is misleading. Brentwood is not gearing up for another tax at this time, that is simply an option IF (and I do mean if) all other options are exhausted on finding revenue–its cheaper for Brentwood to help fix ECCFPD than form its own city dept.
I reached out to Mayor Taylor and he confirmed what we wrote a few weeks back regarding “clarifications” of a future tax which the Times article took a portion of the state of the city address and left out the second part of it. I guess they needed readers instead of trying to inform the public. Anything is possible with a tax of course, but unlikely. In fact, in a conversation with Mayor Taylor this afternoon (10/7/15), he confirmed its a last option just like he said at the State of the City address. The Mayor is hopeful a solution will be met before that happens.
The problem and solution with the Fire District remains Prop 13.
@B195
Yes Local 1230 represents 6 of the 11 Fire agencies within the County. The two mentioned in the article that have the worse financial situation are East County Fire and Rodeo Hercules FIre District. If you don’t cherry pick the parts of the article that support your argument, you would state the facts mentioned in the rest of it. What is the common factor for both of these agencies? They both receive the least amount of property taxes for fire than anywhere else in the County. The average is around 14 cents to the dollar, and both of them receive between 6 and 8 cents in most areas. The fire agencies that have recovered, or were the least impacted by the market crash, are the areas where property values held, or who are recovering from it, and receive a higher portion of the property taxes. As the market improves and property values increase, they are able to replace lost resources. East County can continue to grow in size, but until the gap is closed, the supply will continue to out pace the demand.
As far as the response time issue, I am not sure where the Times got their data. Since the Fitch report was done, it has been found that the response time data we were using was inaccurate due to how it was being processed. A new system and analysis process has been purchased and is being implemented. As a fire fighter who responds to an area where a station was closed (Martinez). I can assure you it take us longer to get to calls in the area where the closure took place. We also suffer from the second call that takes place when your on the first one. Not that complicated. We have also stopped responding to certain calls (decrease in service) in order to stay available for higher priority calls.
Local 1230 negotiates contracts based on the revenue available to pay personnel. All 6 agencies represented by Local 1230 are paid differently and have different benefit packages. East County Firefighter are paid over 40% less then all other fire agencies within the county. This is why East County continues to loose firefighters as they hire them. Over 14 firefighters have left over the last 3 years.
Won’t engage on the volunteer vs. paid. (Travel down Hwy 4 or anywhere else and town)
Despite your feelings about paying for services or the need for adequate fire protection, others in the community don’t feel this way. Many were not aware of the situation and have been mislead by certain groups and media outlets. Personally, as a father, son, brother, or someone who has friends within my community, I believe it is criminal to not provide these services. I would be wanting a judge to intervene on that issue, not how many times the district goes out for a tax. As a firefighter who responds to that 911 call, and has done if for 21 years, it is a critical service that should be provided. I have been a part of saving lives and property. Lets find reasonable doable solutions and stop this dangerous circle of misinformation.
ECT and Mr. Wells a dual response to save space. To respond to both of your leading comments to mine, I offer this;
ECT, No where in my comment previous to your respond was Brentwood mentioned. ECT has misquoted me ironically. The leaders are gearing up for a another tax measure. I believe they are referring to the Fire District not Brentwood. Retraction accepted.
Mr. Wells, I see no need in your response to me explain your family and experience. I truly believe your are a hero and are experienced. This has nothing to do with the subject. I believe you were trying to direct commenters to focus on real issues such as fire. My comment merely stated the fact that of the 9 fire districts response times shown only one improved. That was a volunteer district. The other districts you represent all had worse response times. Also, since you prided your self with supplying tax information that most full time districts get 14 cents on the dollar to run their fire districts and locally it is only 6 to 8 cents, I would like to say that on the Island we pay close to 18 cents and we have no fire station at all. I would think the word cherry pick might apply better to your information. One more thing Mr. Wells. You were quoted in the times with a negative comment regarding a possible solution to emergency services. Do you remember ? Some of the Supervisors were discussing possibly joining a ballot measure for a new sales tax proposal coming up where some of the funds would go to emergency services. Your response was negative that it would work. Maybe there is no solution but your unions demand influence on the county. Must people die first before being allowed to openly fix this issue ? Yes, it is true you will not engage in volunteer fire fighting that covers over sixty percent of this nation except here in Contra Costa.
ECT and Mr. Wells a dual response to save space. To respond to both of your leading comments to mine, I offer this;
ECT, Nowhere in my comment previous to your response was Brentwood mentioned. ECT has misquoted me ironically. The leaders are gearing up for a another tax measure. I believe they are referring to the Fire District not Brentwood. Retraction accepted.
Mr. Wells, I see no need in your response to me explaining your family and experience. I truly believe you are a hero and are experienced. This has nothing to do with the subject. I believe you were trying to direct commenter’s to focus on real issues such as fire. My comment merely stated the fact that of the 9 fire districts response times shown only one improved. That was a volunteer district. The other districts you represent all had worse response times. Also, since you prided yourself with supplying tax information that most full time districts get 14 cents on the dollar to run their fire districts and locally it is only 6 to 8 cents, I would like to say that on the Island we pay close to 18 cents and we have no fire station at all. I would think the word cherry pick might apply better to your information. One more thing Mr. Wells. You were quoted in the times with a negative comment regarding a possible solution to emergency services. Do you remember ? Some of the Supervisors were discussing possibly joining a ballot measure for a new sales tax proposal coming up where some of the funds would go to emergency services. Your response was negative that it would not work. Maybe there is no solution but your unions demand influence on the county. Must people die first before being allowed to openly fix this issue ? Yes, it is true you will not engage in volunteer fire fighting that covers over sixty percent of this nation except here in Contra Costa.
Please do not use the tired and abused “60% of the nation” line without putting it in its full and proper context.
Over 80% of the geographic area of the United States is rural. Scrub brush in the middle of Nevada and corn fields in Nebraska don’t warrant full-time professional coverage. So they don’t get it.
The suburban nature and the population density, among other factors. are the reasons why East Contra Costa has outgrown the volunteer service model. You can cherry pick all the facts you want. It’s no longer viable as a service model here to provide RELIABLE and CONSISTENT response times to the entirety of the District’s residents.
Here’s the thing about the volunteer idea that most won’t admit. The point of the exercise is to stroke egos and pad the feel goods who want to do the volunteering. They are mostly just interested in feeling like they are helping. In and of itself, not a bad thing. But when you completely dismiss or spend very little time considering the big picture factors of total cost and quality of service delivery, then you have made it about yourself and not about the residents you are supposedly serving.
You have taken the commentary completely off-topic of the article under which you are posting.
Buy a clue nailed it once again.
Volunteer programs work in about 80 percent of Fire districts in the US only because 80 percent of the US is rural (there is nothing there and little population). It’s the other 20 percent that requires full time professional fire departments and emergency response. We do not and have not fit the volunteer model for over a decade. Penny pinching with inadequate services do not fit our needs in the area and world we live in today.
No where can it be proven that a volunteer fire department can respond faster than a paid department which stands at the ready 24/7 in the firehouse and ready to respond. Any suggestion to the contrary is ridiculous for obvious reasons. I won’t waste internet space pointing out the many reasons why. It’s just not that complicated.
ECT did not misquote you BI95. He may have misunderstood your question, but he did not misquote you. There is a huge difference. No apology necessary, since you played loosely with your statements.
Mr. Wells, as an east county resident I apologize for my fellow residents who choose to engage in a constant expulsion of regurgitated commentary. The volunteer issue has been raised and properly addressed multiple times. Unfortunately for those of us that comprehend why it no longer fits the district we must suffer the repitition by those that won’t let go of ideas which have been replied to, and sorted out with current data. I state this because at this point the only reason they bring it up, is to pollute any meaningful dialogue aimed at solutions. They don’t want to have to deal with the only solution which is to properly fund an long time underfunded district. If Bethel island is paying a higher percentage (and I believe they are) perhaps a better approach would be to look at ways that they may be waivered from any new tax or assessment. It can be done, and has been done in certain circumstances and may be possible if warranted. While taxes are not equitable, they were never meant to be, it’s nothing new. It’s time we get past that and stop trying to create a fire district that is defined by lowering the bar to the lowest common denominator.
-this is completely off topic. Sorry.
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