Letter: Paper's Kosel-Hausken Endorsement Ill-Informed

To the Editor:

So Cathie Kosel and Jim Hausken have received the endorsement of Daniel Borenstein, a political writer for the Contra Costa Times. It is important to note that, unlike newspapers that convene editorial boards or panels to interview candidates, Mr.Borenstein was the only writer from the CCT involved in the decision.

In contrast, Chuck Toombs and Pat Gillette have received the endorsements of the El Cerrito Democratic Club, The Democratic Party of Contra Costa County, The California Democratic party, and our very own Kensington Improvement Club. In each case these groups convened their governing boards and or membership to meet and evaluate the candidates in order to make a truly representative decision.  They also have the endorsement of decades of leaders in Kensington, compared to Kosel and Hausken’s endorsements from people in Berkeley, Richmond, El Cerrito, and now Mr. Borenstein.

And then there is the question of what Mr. Borenstein relied on to reach his conclusion.  In his interview with the candidates Mr. Borenstein cited one of Kosel's supporters as his source of background information. He misquotes Pat Gillette on the rationale for passing Measure G, which suggests his lack of knowledge and/or objectivity that drove the rest of his conclusions.  And, of course, I have never seen this reporter at a Kensington Police Protection and Community Services District meeting and doubt whether he reviewed the video of these meetings prior to his writing, even though some of the candidates asked him to do so. The result is an unusually one-sided opinion piece without reference to complete or accurate information.

It is also interesting to note that Mr. Borenstein fails to mention any of Kosel’s accomplishments in his piece praising her. Perhaps that is because she has none. Instead, he adopts and repeats, almost verbatim, Kosel’s tired and misleading claims about mismanagement and lack of transparency.

But we in Kensington know that leadership is more than fist banging – it is the ability to build consensus when you are in the minority. This is what Kosel is incapable of doing and what stands out as her profound weakness. Kosel is so divisive as to be ineffective. Clearly, Director Toombs should be re-elected for getting so much done in spite of Ms. Kosel’s obstructionism.

I trust that the next time Mr. Borenstein writes a piece about Kensington, it will be a more thorough examination that uses all the facts available. Perhaps his next piece will cover Kosel’s close relationship with our garbage hauler. There is much to investigate there.

– Andrew Reed
   Kensington