Righeimer peppers his writing with disparaging innuendoes and inferences, such as referring to the sale of KOCE-TV as "the so-called sale" and placing the word "slimy" in quotation marks, suggesting that is how representatives of either the KOCE Foundation or the Coast Community College District characterized the televangelist organization that sought to purchase the station.
Righeimer then complains he was forced to read the actual sale agreement because "neither of the two major papers in Orange County had the same terms of the sale."
This was not a "so-called sale." It was a sale. Righeimer may not like the terms, but it was and is a sale. The district sold KOCE-TV to the KOCE Foundation for an $8 million down payment and additional terms based on a bid of $32 million.
When I spoke to Righeimer, whom I have known for many years, he could not identify anyone who has referred to the televangelists as "slimy" and promised me he would correct that. He did not.
Righeimer began his first column with the claim that the terms of the sale were cloaked in secrecy. He then contradicted himself, complaining he had to read the entire sale agreement to get the facts.
He was able to do so because the agreement is a public document, available to anyone and anything but secret.
Being forced to read the actual purchase agreement because newspapers reported different stories is not a reason to criticize the district, the foundation, the process or the terms of the sale agreement. Instead, Righeimer should call into question the accuracy of the reporters covering the sale.
Many of Righeimer's "facts" are as erroneous and damaging as his innuendoes and inferences. He asserted the district "rejected an all-cash bid for $40 million" from the televangelists.
