SJC Councilman Reeve's Response to Plagiarism Allegations ....

San Juan Capistrano City Councilman Derek Reeve sent this to The Capistrano Dispatch to publish. I asked him about reports he no longer teachers at Concordia University. He said he can't comment on that ... yet.

Here's his column:

DEREK REEVE: Guest View

A Message to the Community

I take this opportunity to thank the many members of the San Juan community who have expressed their support of my recent positions. Here’s some information that may be new to you.

Last month the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) demanded that I apologize because I had named one of my dogs “Muhammad.” It is notable that they found nothing objectionable in my naming another dog “America.” My view is that no religion has the right to demand obedience by persons who are not members of that religion. I do object to the dogma: “You must do as I demand or else I will ‘be offended.” Therefore, my respect for the many honorable members of that faith notwithstanding, I rejected the unreasonable demand of this Muslim organization. A recent poll by The OC Register showed massive local support for my position.

I was stunned when my colleagues on the City Council, Mayor Allevato and Councilman Kramer, took up the cause of CAIR and proposed disciplinary action against me. This is the first time in the 50-year history of the City that such a mean-spirited act against a Councilman has been attempted. In a whirlwind of contorted logic, they stood shoulder-to-shoulder with CAIR. They concocted a novel theory that because I am an elected official, I had a “higher duty” to abandon truth and logic and confine myself to “political correctness.” Nowhere in law or custom does such an inane requirement exist. These gentlemen never mentioned the fact that I was being pressured to forego my constitutional right of free speech.

I suspect the real reason for the assault against me by Mayor Allevato and Councilman Kramer had nothing to do with dogs, Muhammad or Islam. As a fiscal conservative, I am proving to be a thorn in the side to a spendthrift, politically correct, ultra-liberal Council. They cannot argue with my facts so they search for issues, real or imagined, in a desperate attempt to discredit me and cause you to consider that I am some sort of peculiar “nut case.” It is standard political deception which brings to mind an old quote: “If you have the facts on your side, pound the facts; if you have the truth, pound the truth. But, if you have neither the facts nor the truth on your side, pound the table.”

I believe the real objective of the attack against me by Mayor Allevato and Councilman Kramer is to pressure me into resigning from the Council. This would afford Allevato et al the opportunity to appoint a liberal spendthrift replacement without any say by the voters who would be excluded from the entire process. Then the proverbial fox truly would be in charge of the hen house. That is the way politics works, since my presence as a Council member represents a risk to their political control of the City and disturbs their closed-session sanctum. Rest assured, I have no intention of resigning the position voters have entrusted to me. Someone has to watch out for the taxpayers; clearly the council majority has not, as evidenced by our debt which has ballooned to more than $150 million.

The latest attack is in the form of the charge of plagiarism by a “journalist” on Patch, an arm of the Huffington Post. On balance, I may be partly responsible—along with most of the human race that uses the Internet. In the atmosphere of today’s massive electronic echo chamber, in which we are assaulted with dozens of concepts and ideas each minute, I doubt if any of us have had a totally original idea in the past 50 years. Certainly that is the way it is in the legal profession in which I work. Yes, in formal documentation, one is more precise in adding footnotes to identify the origin of our ideas, which makes it extremely complicated when wading through such writing. However, in normal everyday communication, not to mention blogging, it is impossible for us to precisely identify each antecedent and besides, the atmosphere is much more relaxed and informal (or so I thought).

I think it is clear that the objective of these petty attacks in not “precise journalistic accuracy” but an attempt to besmirch me personally and shift blame away from the website that carried my comments. I am not happy to be the object of these personal attacks but I do take pride in the fact that they are totally unrelated to neither my beliefs nor what I have to say.

Frankly, I am unhappy that these press-amplified attacks have diminished our City on a national scale. As a fiscal conservative, I note that the self-serving attacks upon me by Mayor Allevato and Councilman Kramer wasted thousands of dollars at the last Council meeting as the staff spent a good part of the evening doing nothing while speakers stepped up to express their concern about the council being offended by a dog’s name.

Looking to the future, I pray for a more mature, business-like approach. I am not angry with anyone. I recognize that the attacks upon me were politically motivated; such comes with the job. My focus is on today’s pressing problems. I am concerned with bringing your water rates down. I want to find a method to bring the Ground Water Recovery Plant into either efficient operation, or shed this albatross that has generated an $8 million dollar deficit and dramatically driven up our water rates. Unfortunately, some in the press and my fellow Councilmen seem to want to ignore these matters while focusing on mud-slinging trivia.

 I am pressing for a more effective workforce in City Hall and an investigation of possible outsourcing as a means of controlling personnel costs. I am committed to a more equitable pension system for our career city employees. I want to see the lease arrangement of the Rancho Mission Viejo Riding Park revised to increase the city’s income. We have these and many other challenges before us. Am I the only Councilman who is concerned because our small City is 150 million dollars in debt? We must set aside the recent annoying distractions and get to work on major problems. Please think kindly of me as I work on your behalf.

Derek Reeve was elected to the San Juan Capistrano City Council in December.

Comments

[SK]

"I take this opportunity to thank the many members of the San Juan community who have expressed their support of my recent positions."

You have supporters who endorse your blatant plagiarism? That is sad news.

"These gentlemen never mentioned the fact that I was being pressured to forego my constitutional right of free speech."

Because it is not a fact. Your constitutional protected right to free speech was not abridged in the slightest. If it were, no one would be taking you to task for your comments.

They are exercising their right to free speech, which they, like you, have too.

For a council-member, you display an abysmal lack of understanding as to what the First Amendment entails. Say anything you want, but expecting that every one else to defer to your dishonesty is simply playing the victim.

"However, in normal everyday communication, not to mention blogging, it is impossible for us to precisely identify each antecedent and besides, the atmosphere is much more relaxed and informal (or so I thought)."

Impossible? No. Difficult perhaps. But here is the thing. When you were plagiarizing, it was not as if you accidentally thought of exactly those words, and could not remember that you did so. You deliberately plagiarized. And when people do it, and get caught, they often rectify their error. You did nothing of the sort. Heck you were directed to the instances where you plagiarized!

The lack of a subsequent admission of dishonesty reflects poorly on you, and your integrity.

"I doubt if any of us have had a totally original idea in the past 50 years."

Your doubt has little to do with your plagiarism. You are not being accused for not having an original idea, you are being accused (with copious samples) of stealing someone else's work and presenting it as if it were your own. And instead of coming clean, you are doubling down. Shamelessly.

"A recent poll by The OC Register showed massive local support for my position."

Yeah, a poll taken during 1850s in the south indicated massive support for the right to own slaves. So what? A newspaper poll is hardly scientific, and you should know that. Here is one that has about the same majority numbers as yours: http://bit.ly/pBhXJo

Now what?

'The latest attack is in the form of the charge of plagiarism by a “journalist” on Patch, an arm of the Huffington Post.'

Not an attack, it is statement of fact with abundant evidence. If you were a repentant human, you'd accept your mistake, and try not to repeat it in your future ventures. I sense that you are a Christian, ask yourself if Jesus would approve?

For those taken in by Mr. Reeve's accusations, judge for yourself:

http://bit.ly/r1IT43

Aren't you curious that he did not provide a link to "the latest attack"?

Shameful, Mr. Reeve. If your original exercise in naming your dog Mohammed was to teach your kids the value of freedom of speech, this could have been an opportunity to show how to show contrition for your dishonest conduct.

Instead, you have chosen to double down, impugning the integrity of other council members and a journalist. It is not as the other members forced you to plagiarize. Someday your kids will look at this, and it is my hope that they forgive you for maligning people's character.

SJC deserves better. And you can still be the guy. All you have to do is come clean and admit your plagiarism and try not to repeat it.

Is that so hard for someone who identifies himself as a Christian?

[Jake Joseph]

Why do local papers continue to print stories about and from this nut job?

[CRH]

SK: thank you for a very well-put rebuttal. I had similar thoughts when reading Mr. Reeve's article, but I wouldn't have posted nearly such a thought-through comment.