A fairy tale for Bill Horn

By RICHARD RIEHL | Friday, June 6, 2008 6:17 PM PDT ∞

County Supervisor Bill Horn must have seen it coming. This newspaper's front page story on May 25 was about a developer donating $25,000 to his 2006 re-election campaign shortly before Horn proposed a new road and zoning change benefiting his benefactor. A week before the story broke, Horn added a page to his Fifth District Web site.

"I am concerned," he wrote, "there are times when people receive a distorted version of the truth from the news media; whether it is in print, radio, television or over the Internet." That covers about every news source other than the grapevine and the supervisor himself.

Unwilling to trust the grapevine, Horn promises that his Web site's "For the Record" page will allow him to correct the "distortions, innuendos, misstatements, bias, or lies" about him circulated in the media.

The first posting on Horn's "new communications feature," is a piece titled, "The State of the Media," by his Director of Communications John Culea, a former television reporter/anchorman, who now shares Horn's disdain for the media. Culea claims that financial hard times have made newspapers increasingly desperate and irresponsible in their reporting.

"For the Record" will enable you to get the truth about "a man who has served North County better than you'll ever read about in print, see on television, or hear on the radio."

A curious claim, given last week's publication of a book written by a former White House press secretary who describes how he helped the Bush administration shade the truth.

In responding to his latest scandal, Horn scoffed that anyone who thinks he did a favor for a developer "should write novels." There's not enough room here to take him up on that offer, but maybe a fairy tale will suffice. It might also give Culea something to write about in "For the Record."

Once upon a time in the Land of Avocados, the mighty Prince Hornbill was worried. His loyal subjects had begun to grumble after his 12 long years on the throne. The grouchy Sir Bruce threatened to overthrow him. The despondent prince needed money to print fliers warning the villagers that Sir Bruce secretly planned to lure hordes of outsiders to their village, despoiling the natural beauty of their land.

Meanwhile, the greedy Lord Goodswon, a notorious paver of open spaces, purchased land outside the village, planning to add 3,000 homes to the Valley of the Center. He needed a path to be built that would help future villagers find his land.

While wandering in the forest one day, Prince Hornbill came upon a pot of gold. Just what he needed to help pay for his flier! The flier was printed, and the prince retained his crown. Lord Goodswon was delighted to discover that a path would be built to his new settlement. Prince Hornbill, pleased with himself and his good fortune, settled down for his afternoon nap.

While he slept, those who wished to preserve the serenity of their sleepy little village awaited the next opportunity to unseat him.

Carlsbad resident Richard J. Riehl is a freelance columnist. Contact him at RiehlWorld2@yahoo.com.