Getting ‘hooked’ still smells

Published 6:39 pm Wednesday, September 25, 2013

OK, I made two errors in my letter to the editor (“Something smells around Auburn City Hall,” Auburn Reporter, Sept. 13).

One of the errors was pointed out by the Reporter. I apologize for and acknowledge the error. Nancy Backus is not the chair of the planning commission to which Scot Pondelick was appointed. However, she did just receive Scot’s endorsement for mayor, coincidentally the week before his appointment to the commission by the full City Council.

The other error I made was in quoting Bill Peloza’s exclamation after the council voted on Scot’s appointment. I thought he said, “Scot, we got ya!” But in reviewing my notes on the meeting, Councilman Peloza actually said, “Scot, we hooked ya!”

Last week’s letter was intended to be subtle and connect the dots. Now, looking at this quote and the timing of the appointment, I would have to suspect a pay-to-play incident. Is that how government and elections work in Auburn? For your endorsement, you, too, can have a seat on some commission or other? Is that how we can expect to “hook” commission members and endorsements in the future? This still smells, but it is getting worse.

– John Pinsker