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| Online blog tied to SoCal media firm |
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| Written by Jonathan Partridge / Patterson Irrigator | |
| Saturday, 05 January 2008 | |
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“I am angry that I’ve become the object of this small-town witch hunt, and I demand that it stop now” - Donna Worley The truth about an online blog that criticizes local leaders and community activists is that it bears many similarities to a site registered by a Southern California media company representative. Burbank resident Teressa Merrill shows up as the registered owner of the Web site www.truthabout
 Worley She said she bought the tapes of the interview segments with DeMartini to educate herself about local issues. She said what she had heard about the video sounded as if it was in poor taste and that she would not criticize the supervisor because he is a fellow Republican. Worley added that she did not have the know-how to design a Web site even if she wanted to. For instance, she said, she has had help with the Web site www.reformpatterson.com, which touts the city ballot measures she has proposed. The Reform Patterson site, like the Truth About Patterson, uses the Domains By Proxy service. The same is true of www.sanjoaquinblog.com, which announced Dec. 20 that the YouTube video was being circulated, more than a week before area newspapers reported on the video. Worley said she did not want to say who had helped her with the effort, and she also would not comment on whether she had let someone else view the tapes featuring DeMartini. She said she works with many volunteers, though she denied knowing Merrill-Wilcox. “You take the help that’s offered you,” she said. Under fire Worley also said she has been repeatedly harassed by local residents for her stances, saying her mail has been tampered with and that she was even followed by a cab driver once while driving from place to place. “I am angry that I’ve become the object of this small-town witch hunt, and I demand that it stop now,” she said Thursday. She said she is tired of being harassed for her stance, and she believes members of the group WS-PACE.org and former Modesto Mayor Carmen Sabatino should be held accountable for accusations they have made about her being a paid activist. While both Worley and Kamilos have repeatedly said they are not connected, Sabatino has proclaimed that they are on his show. He said by phone Thursday that a former Rialto City Council member had announced during a meeting in August that Worley was a paid consultant for another corporate firm. Councilman Ed Scott, who made those accusations, could not be reached for comment this week. Sabatino also said Worley has admitted that she had made money for her advocacy work in the past. However, Worley said she gives of her time freely, focusing on issues she is passionate about. For instance, the city of Rialto has poor water quality, and she said she felt strongly about that issue. She said Sabatino had left out parts of a clip of the Rialto City Council meeting that showed that council members had learned she was a Burbank resident because she had written that information on a card. At the time, she was renting a home in Patterson, but still had Burbank as her permanent residence, she said. She also questioned Sabatino’s tactics, saying he had called her ex-husband to try to “trick him” into saying certain things about her. Sabatino said he called the ex-husband to question him about Worley’s background, and the ex-husband promptly hung up and said he did not want to talk. Sabatino said he had more information that he would not reveal, but he wanted to wait to announce it at a later time. Meanwhile, Kamilos of West Park said the whole situation is “bizarre,” and he does not have time these days to focus on anything but the project itself. “We’re dealing with the facts and technical issues and on coming up with a plan that’s feasible,” he said. “We can’t afford to be distracted by all the kinds of stuff that’s going on.” To reach Jonathan Partridge at the Irrigator, call 892-6187 or e-mail him at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
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Meanwhile, another Web site criticizing local leaders received loads of attention this week after it became evident that a local activist, who used to live in Burbank, bought videos identical to those used in a hit piece on Stanislaus County Supervisor Jim DeMartini.
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