by Bob Heinen
This week is bittersweet as we say goodbye to our Managing Editor Stephanie Powell and welcome our staff writer Molly Oleson, as our new editor. Stephanie will stay on as a contributing editor to the Pacific Sun, but we will miss her as she steps down from the day to day rigors of producing a weekly newspaper as well as editing our website PacificSun.com and our PS Today newsletter. It has been great to see the growth in Stephanie’s leadership and editing skills over the past year, and we wish her the best of luck in her new position at Strings magazine.
This week we also welcome Lily O’Brien as copy editor. Lily has lived in Marin County for more than 15 years. Her passions include singing, music, writing, world travel, bicycling and Buddhism.
Our new Editor Molly Oleson is a writer, editor, photographer and illustrator with a B.F.A. from Boston University and a master’s degree in journalism from UC Berkeley. She has produced content for local and national publications, and has traveled as far as India, South Africa and Brazil for stories. Molly looks forward to taking the helm at the Sun, and is committed to making the paper the best that it can be.
Congratulations to Steph, Lily and Molly, and stay tuned for more …
Your change in editor could be an opportunity for the Sun to step out and expand circulation by doing some needed investigative reporting.
Last year’s pre-election MERA article, for example, was little more than a parroting of the group that sought the a la carte property tax, when MERA was really full of holes. Fortunately, other media have exposed MERA and Motorola since then, and the Feds are looking at it, but the Sun could have scooped them and saved the voters from being led to (barely) approve it.
Other ongoing political scams include
— charging the taxpayers and betraying the faith in firemen for the Sleepy Valley (Fire District) private clubhouse,
— following the money in city council’s and supervisor’s support of urbanizing Marin (“High density housing and highly dense leadership”).
–Or how about the Ross Valley Sewer Board scheme to dig up San Anselmo’s gem, Memorial Park, and replace it with a “flood control basin”–cost of millions going to construction companies, consultants etc.?
–Note the efforts to push the above scheme through without allowing voters to pass on it.
–Here’s one: ask around her district and discover that Katy Sears is highly unlikely to be reelected but hopes to win because SOMEBODY is piling on the campaign contributions.
You guys could do a huge service to this community and be the most talked-about news source in Marin if you’d pull off the covers and give us in-depth truth about goings on. The I J is afraid of its advertisers; but if everybody is reading you, your advertisers will come. You don’t have to sling mud; just give us balance and truth…
Thanks for considering this.