Letters to the Editor: Rick Caruso isn’t buying an election. His spending is protected speech,
Rick Caruso wasn’t buying an election. But that doesn’t mean he should be silenced. He is a citizen journalist-that’s his right-and he is doing his job by exposing waste and government waste and making his fellow citizens aware that their government is not doing its job to support them. His comments on government waste and how he came to have a good understanding of waste and government waste are in this letter to the editor. The comments are from the November 8, 2007 edition of the Fresno Bee. He is also an elected commissioner for the Alameda County Board of Supervisors. This letter is from Caruso to the editor. Read it in full below. The Fresno Bee published Caruso’s November 8, 2007 letter as news in its October 15, 2007 section. I can find it online. Caruso was responding to articles in the Fresno Bee, October 5, 2006, September 27, 2007 and June 10, 2007 editions about the city’s and county’s spending in the 2006 election, which were highlighted. On the subject of the newspaper’s stories, Caruso said “We (the Bee) are the paper of record. We are supposed to document every government agency and every public official. That is also my role as a citizen reporter. I have a job as a citizen journalist. (The Bee) is also a newspaper and a news source. We have to be selective and we have to think critically. If we go after the wrong people, then we lose credibility and the credibility of the newspaper.” He also said the Bee “is not an unbiased news source…. We are there to help the public by providing information that we believe the public needs and that would be good for them. That is my responsibility as a Citizen Journalist.” In Caruso’s letter to the editor, he said, “What is the reason the Bee doesn’t run this story?” He said, “This is a political issue. The Bee is clearly trying to promote the candidacy of Greg Cox. It is a clear political advertisement against Greg Cox. It is an attempt to discredit Greg Cox with the help of one of Greg Cox’s enemies (Dan Goldsmith). Greg Cox has