Poorly Planned Journalism

[XLFD]

The story about street-level residences in the downtown of Scottville on the Mason County Press (MCP) the other day may have caught your eye, I include the full article just in case you hadn't, in order to show a point:

Scottville planning commission opposes main floor downtown apartments.

SCOTTVILLE — The Scottville Planning Commission is recommending that the City Commission deny a variance request by a downtown building owner to allow permanent residency on the main floor of his building. Ludington-based attorney Mark Pehrson, who owns 113 S. Main St., has requested the variance after city officials discovered that Pehrson is renting the main floor of the two-story building as an apartment, a violation of the city’s zoning ordinance.

The zoning ordinance restriction of main floor residency is consistent with most downtown business districts, including Ludington.

The Planning Commission made its decision when it met Tuesday, Dec. 6. A letter to Mayor Bruce Krieger and the City Commission reads:

“It is the unanimous recommendation of the Planning Commission that the City Commission deny the request by Mr. Mark Pehrson to allow first floor occupancy of his building at 133 S. Main Street.

“The members of the Planning Commission believe that permanent first floor occupancy hinders commercial growth for downtown. It is also the opinion of the Planning Commission that Mr. Pehrson should take a more pro-active approach to either sell his building or to find a suitable commercial occupant. There are sources, such as the Ludington & Scottville Area Chamber of Commerce, the Mason County Growth Alliance, and the West Shore Community College Business Opportunity Center, that are available to assist in matching potential business owners with available properties.

“Further, the Planning Commission believes if there is a consensus to allow such occupancy that the City Commission should request the Planning Commission draft a formal ordinance allowing such land use.”

Roy and Linda Holden, who own several downtown buildings, have also submitted a letter opposing the variance.

“Our concern is for the future of our town,” the Holdens wrote in a letter to the City Commission. “If the decision is made to allow this variance, it sets a precedent so more and more vacant store fronts can be turned into residential apartments. It would also allow for current businesses to put in apartments instead of their retail business. With the shortage of rental properties, these buildings would surely bring in more income if they were apartments.

“So what would that do to our town? We would end up as a bedroom community for Ludington. There would be no need for a city manager, commissioners, police department, or to have any events. The offices and businesses that are currently in town could devaluate to the point we may never see our initial investment.

“We think it would be a foolish decision to allow main floor residential rental in the business district  when the city is trying to restructure and build up the retail side of Scottville. And just because someone has gone ahead and already put apartments in with tenants doesn’t mean the should be excused for doing so.”

City Manager Amy Williams said during the previous City Commission meeting and during the Planning Commission meeting that Pehrson has stated he has attempted to find a commercial occupant or buyer for the building but has not been successful.

Williams also stated another building, 102 S. Main Street, is in violation of the ordinance. The owner of that building has been notified of the violation but has not responded to the city. If he does not respond, the city will take legal action against him, Williams said.

A public hearing on Pehrson’s request will be held during the regular meeting of the City Commission on Monday, Dec. 19 at City Hall, 105 N. Main St. The meeting begins at 5:30 p.m.

The building in question is the old Edward Jones Building, with the flag in front of it in the 2008 photo above, 133 S. Main, not 113 as the article declares at one point (113 S. Main is a vacant business up the street).

But giving inconsistent addresses is not why I give the author of this piece, Rob Alway, a bad mark this close to Christmas.  He runs the MCP and has no problem declaring it as a news media for the area, and his articles often are general news stories and nothing else.  Even in this story, he does not interject his own opinion on the controversy in question, at least overtly.  You may have noticed he didn't offer Pehrson or the owner of 102 S Main the opportunity to explain their view, but the problem is even worse than that.

Rob Alway is the Scottville Planning Committee chairman.  Once you know that, it should make you wonder why Alway neglects to tell the reader that fact, particularly since he more than likely drafted the letter to the city commission. 

This is a glaring conflict of interest the type that he knew about in the past, but decided to ignore anyway in covering other topics in Scottville. 

If you now re-read the article, you may be amazed at the more-obvious bias and the loads of propaganda he provides for his point, while snubbing the other viewpoint.

And the other viewpoint is perhaps unwittingly revealed by Roy Holden, another Planning Commission member, in his letter written against ground-floor residency in the downtown, when he says that the shortage of rental properties will surely make these arrangements more profitable for the owners than installing a business.  If that is the case, why would a business buy property in downtown Scottville in the first place?

The problem is, Scottville will become a worse place to live and do business in if the city government believes it can better tell you what to do with your property and have the local media cover it in a one-sided manner.  Would the city rather have a vacant property at 133 S. Main, while their DDA is advocating constructing second story apartments (via rental rehabilitation subsidies) in order to get critical masses of people downtown?

As I've noted before, the Scottville bypass has given South Main Street in Scottville a different type of characteristic.  Businesses will be reluctant to take root there because of the lack of traffic, and they will be severely disadvantaged.  Are empty storefronts better than first-floor residential rehabs?  It's definitely worth being addressed from both sides with responsible, transparent journalists.   

Add to that the onerous tax rate of Scottville and the coming tidal wave of increased water and sewer costs, and you have a recipe for bad things coming for Scottville if they don't stop thinking outside of their big government box.  Their current direction is unsustainable and will lead to ruin, something they don't like hearing from me or Edward Hahn, but truthful nonetheless.

In today's (December 17) COLDNews, they appropriately attribute the letter written from the Planning Commission to being penned by PC Chairman Rob Alway.  It's too bad Alway didn't acknowledge the same when he had the chance, instead using his medium to generate negative public sentiment to Pehrson's request for a variance.

[Willy]

I've said many times that Alway must stay out of politics if he wants to be taken seriously. He has created a huge conflict of interest problem. If he can't see or understand the situation he has created then he is no longer an asset to the community.

[XLFD]

It always will reflect badly not only on his principles of journalism, but also in his ethics as a public official. 

He could easily deflect such well-founded criticism by claiming his conflict from the start and attempting to fairly represent the other faction.  It won't happen though, such 'journalists' do not see their own lapses, just like they fail to notice in their stories any other officials and 'journalists' lapsing themselves.

[Brad]

Note I have not fully read here, LDN, or MCP, but my first guess is that Scottville needs to look at anything to increase it's citizenship. This should only be granted on a case by case basis, and only if each granted variance is fully rented out. I know all the business owners don't want it turned into a rental community, but if I owned a restaurant or store there I'd want more people to serve. Especially if they're short on rentals. No one will be building a apartment building there. There is NO draw to take a business there.

[XLFD]

The COLDNews had a recap of what happened at the Scottville meeting last night, quick summary:  they sent it back to the Planning Commission to give Pehrson a chance to talk with them.  They faulted the PC for not inviting Pehrson to discuss his side of the issue before them-- though they made it clear they don't fault them really, LOL.  It does seem to point to some big bias in the PC at work.  In the print edition, Pehrson is noted not to have redesigned the internal structure of the building, and made it residential so as to help the current tenants whose disabilities would not allow them to go to other second floor apartments.  He made note that it could easily be converted back to commercial uses if the business climate changed or his tenants moved.

SCOTTVILLE — City Commissioners voted Monday to postpone the hearing of a variance request to allow ground floor residential apartments in downtown Scottville.

The request came from Mark Pehrson, owner of 133 S. Main St., who currently has tenants occupying the first floor of his building. 

Pehrson received a letter from the city notifying him that he may be in violation of the current rental ordinance which only allows for second floor residences in downtown Scottville, said City Attorney Tracy Thompson.

“Mr. Pehrson filed an ordinance, and we set it for a public hearing on today’s date,” Thompson said. 

Last Wednesday, Scottville Planning Commission Chairman Rob Alway submitted a recommendation to City Manager Amy Williams that Pehrson’s request be denied.

“The members of the planning commission believe that permanent first floor occupancy hinders commercial growth for downtown,” Alway said. 

The planning commission also suggested that Pehrson consider selling the building or finding a suitable commercial occupant. However, Pehrson was made aware of the planning commission’s discussion of his variance request, and was not given an opportunity to explain his position prior to the planning commission submitting its recommendation to the city.

“The planning commission heard Mr. Pehrson’s variance and made a recommendation not just generally on what the city ordinance should be, but a recommendation on his specific request,” Thompson said Monday. “Mr. Pehrson was not invited for that hearing of the planning commission. So we hold the hearing today with that recommendation that the applicant was not notified of (and) that’s a potential problem.”

Thompson said that it would be difficult to move forward under these circumstances, and recommended that the variance request be returned to the planning commission for another review, with Pehrson present.

“I think in fairness to the applicant and also to make sure that whatever you all decide is the final opinion and will withstand any final appeal… we need to send this back to planning commission for another review and also adjourn our hearing for another date,” Thompson said. “Then the planning commission can hear from Mr. Pehrson as well. They may or may not change their recommendation but at least they’ll have a chance to hear from him.”

http://www.shorelinemedia.net/ludington_daily_news/scottville-delay...

[XLFD]

Today's MCP had a new article on the issue, once again where Editor Rob Alway comments on things regarding the Planning Commission without any revelation that he's the chairman (First floor residential variance sent back to Scottville Planning C...).  Numerous other questions come out, like the fact that he states the PC had a December 20 (today) meeting where they decided to not support the variance, even though the meeting was last week.

The City of Scottville were not following their own rules anyway.  According to their charter, "Between 15 and 25 days from the date an appeal is filed, the Zoning Board of Appeals shall hold a hearing of the appeal.  Notice of the hearing shall be published a newspaper of general circulation not less than 15 days before the date of the hearing."  Both COLDNews and MCP state the issue came up first on the night of December 5th, the notice in the COLDNews would have been in the paper at the earliest on December 6th, the meeting last night was not properly noticed-- do the math, 6+15= 21, not 19 or less.

[John Doe Jr]

Wow Rob! Maybe he should meet up with Heather and she can show him where to put tiny houses.

[Brad]

And yeah I know this is more about Rob, MCP, and the PC, but I've lost all respect for all local news media long ago (and state/national too). I'm not surprised and guessing it won't get better and may even get worse. ....Only one trust worthy local news source.

[Dan Reinoehl]

I for one would like to stand up for Mr. Alway.  Rob has always been an outstanding asset to the Scottville Community.  His tireless efforts to improve his community are to be commended.  Rob has served on numerous committees and boards all in a volunteer capacity.  One must respect his ambition, after being downsized out of a job, he single handedly created his former employers biggest competitor.   Scottville is lucky to have such a caring community member.  Keep up the good work Rob, and best wishes for a successful new year.  

[XLFD]

I fully agree with each one of your points, Dan.  Five years ago when Rob started the MCP after being released by the then-new owners of the COLDNews, he has showed remarkable energy and stamina in competition with an established newspaper with a lot more resources. 

But for all you say and even more you could say, it doesn't lessen his duties as a journalist or as a public official to hide or obscure the lines between his two often-disparate jobs.  He has been writing 'straight news reporting' articles about the Scottville Planning Commission and his acts as the chairman, without disclosing the fact.  The articles also conveniently have left out the viewpoints of the side opposite of his. 

He has put himself into the position to have people question whether his code of journalistic integrity is interfering with his loyalty to the City of Scottville and/or his duties as a public officer, and vice versa.  Anybody who allows themselves as a journalist to cover the beat of themselves as a public officer will find themselves into a similar trap.  It will reduce your sincerity and  effectiveness in both endeavors.

This is why I was ultimately relieved when I failed to be elected as a city councilor in Ludington.  I knew I wouldn't be able to simultaneously be a local news pundit here on the LT and a councilor without coming across the same way I view Rob when he covers Scottville political news.  If I had been successful, I definitely would have made it clear to the reader that I was a city official when I did need to cover the event, so people could decide for themselves where I was coming from.

[XLFD]

On Tuesday the Scottville Planning Commission voted to nix Pehrson's request for first floor residential as noted in this MCP article Scottville Planning Commission recommends denial ....  Scottville will soon be getting very interesting when more defecation hits the fan with double digit sewer rate increases.  Why live in town when the cost for water and sewer far eclipses the maintenance of a well and a septic system, and you cannot control what you can do with your property because city bureaucrats won't allow it?

Rob Alway fails to claim that he wrote the article, however, he did make an improvement over his last attempt by noting that he served as the chairman of the Planning Commission and the editor-in-chief and owner of this news service.  Once again, it's an ethical failure by not disclosing he wrote the piece, if that was the case, as it appears to be. 

[AQUAMAN]

I've been under the impression Alway is a one man operation at MCP, unless he also has a secretary or some assistant.

[XLFD]

The MCP has also Allison Scarbrough who covers court news and Oceana County news, and Danny Vargas, who does features.  Scottville politics has been Rob Alway's bailiwick, probably since he's immersed in it and loyal to the ideals that are leading Scottville down the wrong path.