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Erdman refutes city manager rumors

Pasadena spokeswoman Ann Erdman dismissed as rumor a recent post on the Foothill Cities blog that suggests the city has already settled on a new city manager.

The post, which was apparently triggered by a Foothill Cities reader quoting a "fairly reliable source," stated that a permanent replacement for recently retired City Manager Cynthia Kurtz had been selected last Wednesday, and that the winning candidate was a woman and former Glendale city manager.

"The City Council doesn't even meet on Wednesdays," said an incredulous Erdman upon being told about the blog post. "The application process hasn't even concluded yet."

Erdman said the city will continue accepting applications for the post, currently being filled by Interim City Manager Bernard Melekian, for about a week until this Friday. This posting by Bob Murray & Associates, which the city hired to conduct the city manager search, lists the deadline for applications as April 30.

Just out of curiosity I started plumbing my old Glendale contacts to find out if they've had any recent female city managers. It doesn't sound like they've ever had one.

Glendale spokesman Ritch Wells said that before current City Manager Jim Starbird -- who formerly headed West Covina City Hall -- the Jewel City was headed by Dave Ramsey, who served as city manager for about seven years. Ramsey was preceded by Jim Rez, another long-serving city manager.

"To my knowledge Glendale hasn't had a female city manager," said Wells.

He added that if Pasadena's application process is still ongoing, city ordinances would preclude the council from settling on a candidate at this point.



Comments

There are certain people out there - including City officials - who give false information to the blogosphere on purpose. It's kinda like back when I worked in pro-wrestling. Promoters would feed fake info out to the Interwebs and the fanboys would post it. As I'm quickly learning, you've got to check your facts before you post a rumor...and make sure the person telling you the information is trustworthy and not somebody who, say, calls the paper 5 minutes before the deadline to give you a "hot scoop" (of crap). - AP
Yes Aaron, I agree. But don't you mean, "calls (or e-mails) the blog? with a hot scoop"? That is why this stuff doesn't (usually) make it into the paper, because as much as you rag on us, we have to take the time to look into tips before using them in print. Online, however, is a different story. I address it once Foothill Cities posts it since it is out there already, and do the kind of digging (i.e. checking with Glendale officials) that keeps it out of the paper and on the web, where this kind of unreliable crap belongs.
Actually people do call the papers and TV with false information all the time. Just ask Dan Rather. I know I have had people try and play me. The sad part is, this information about the CM was EASILY verifiable. The entire debate of bloggers pretending to be reporters and reporters pretending to be bloggers is a joke. Any reporter would have known to check the Glendale info and could find out it was false with one phone call to any NUMBER of people or a check to see the Council's schedule. At the same time, reporters putting their best stuff in their blogs, and Fred this is not directed at you, and leaving it out of the paper should rethink what they are doing. Why buy the cow ... when you can get the milk for free.
Dre, you hit it right on the mark. Our job as newspaper reporters is to sift through all the misinformation we get and report the facts. We don't always get it right, I'll be the first to admit it, but all we can do is try our best to be accurate and fair.

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