Felix Cortez, Left-Wing Reporter, Shames and Threatens to Ignore Monterey County Patriots

Last week, I worked with the Monterey County Coalition of Concerned Citizens to get more awareness to and build opposition against SB 54. They had complained to me that they worked very hard to get the media to cover their events, but every time they were more interested in pushing an agenda rather than simply reporting the news.

On Monday, May 14th, I sent out a press release to every major news affiliate that I could reach. I wanted everyone in the region to know that we were working to bring awareness about stopping SB 54, the Sanctuary State Law, in Monterey County–first at the Board of Supervisors, and then at the City of Monterey.

Finally, one news reporter from KSBW arrived at the Monterey County meeting room.

But his attitude was off-putting, arrogant, even tired and disgusted. He gave off this flimsy attitude as though he could not believe that he had been bothered to cover this event with concerned citizens in Monterey County.
Ultimately, Felix Cortez, the reporter from KSBW, did a story on us, but he made a number of mistakes and reported some information which has not been corroborated.

Here's the video of the news report from May 15th, 2018:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHbnM5Ws9cs

I sent a follow-up letter to correct the errors and call out Felix Cortez' unhelpful behavior:

To the KSBW Newsroom:


Thank you for sending Mr. Cortez to cover our protest and attendance at the Monterey County Board of Supervisors on May 15th, 2018.


I have attached a few photos from our protest and demonstration.


With some due respect, however, I want to share some concerns I had with Mr. Cortez' story and professionalism.


First, regarding the final report:


There were a few errors in the story about the Monterey County Coalition of Concerned Citizens story.


Our numbers are actually much larger than the group which attended the Board Meeting.
Here are the photos from our demonstration at the Monterey Cit Council, which Mr. Cortez reported on briefly in his Tuesday night news report:

Secondly, Mr. Cortez stated that a dozen cities and counties have opted out or opposed SB 54.
That is not true. About 50 jurisdictions have already taken on SB 54–and those numbers are growing.


Here is a current list, authenticated by news reports across the state and elected officials in those cities and counties:

Last of all, Mr. Cortez alleged that the Monterey County Board of Supervisors moved to file a lawsuit on behalf of the state of California in the federal court fight over SB 54. I spoke with County Deputy Clerk Denise Hancock, and the notes from the meeting do not refer to any action from the board on SB 54.
Please issue these corrections as soon as possible.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Arthur Schaper
Cortez was not too happy with this assertive letter, and he wrote a pretty abrupt, petty response:
Really, Arthur? First of all the media does not need orders from people on who we should or should not interview. And that’s the approach you took.. you weren’t suggesting we talk to people you were ordering me to. Clearly a lack of professionalism on your behalf.
Secondly, I recorded everybody who went to the podium and spoke inside the chambers that day.. and when I did speak to the one woman  outside the chambers she said the same thing she said inside.


There’s a reason I put a mic on the podium because what your friends said at the podium is more natural and from the heart then it would be staring at the lens of a camera.


And one more thing: your lack of professionalism and tone of your letter will clearly make us think twice about covering any future events by you or your friends.


Felix.
He cannot run away from the fact that he reported the facts wrong about the growing uproar across the state against SB 54. He said only a dozen jurisdictions, when the numbers have now climbed to forty cities and 10 counties. Those numbers are growing, by the way.

Then he claimed that Monterey County has directed their attorney to draft an amicus brief to support the state of California in their lawsuit to defend SB 54 against the federal government. I have called the Clerk of the Board twice, and one of the staffers informed me that the minutes contain no such direction.

Notice how hurt his feelings got! Talk about a lack of professionalism!

Really?! One of the citizens shared some growing concerns about this. He is running for Congress, and KSBW had interviewed him for a story in his bid against Jimmy Panetta. Are they now going to blow him off and not grant him equal access to make his case to Monterey/Santa Cruz County voters?
Very shameful.

I urge everyone who is reading this post to contact KSBW to hold their reporter accountable!
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KSBW Front Desk: Call 831-758-8888
KSBW NEWSROOM: Call 831-422-8206, or email the newsroom at news@ksbw.com
KSBW Salinas television studios: 238 John Street, Salinas, California, 93901
mikedelarosa@hearst.com.
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