Beyond Sept. 11, Cont’d
It’s been so gratifying to see the flag fly in so many places these days. I think bin Laden and his gang thought they could demoralize Americans, but I think they have brought us closer together and reminded us of what a great country we live in. God bless America and long may its flag wave!
Randy Smith
President
Smith Public Affairs
Irvine
I would like to take this opportunity to applaud the Association of Trial Lawyers of America for helping to keep America united in this time of national tragedy by calling for a moratorium on civil lawsuits.
This is no time to contest one another in divisive courtroom battles. Now is a time to focus on the relief of the victims and to search for ways to unite the world.
Maryann Maloney
Executive Director
Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse
Santa Ana
This war needs to be fought with one hand open to offer aid to those who have suffered and one hand clenched to deliver the fatal blow to the head of terrorism. America is about liberty and justice. We can no longer afford to ignore the repressed people of the Middle East and we cannot tolerate the terrorist threat to humanity. I am proud to see our elected leaders react with such noble principles.
During George Bush’s campaign for president, many Americans regarded his knowledge of foreign policy to be his greatest weakness. Our president has demonstrated that he is a quick study. His actions have shown that he truly deserves to be the leader of the free world.
Samuel Reeve
Pleasanton
Stabel vs. Street
I would like to respond to and clarify some of the points in your Oct. 1 story, “Execs Depart Investment Firm in Bitter Split”:
++Your paper quotes Chriss Street as saying, “the dispute between the departed executives and the two remaining Street Asset partners is set to go to arbitration.”
Neither Don Sheetz, Chriss Street nor their attorney has contacted me or attempted to contact me regarding a potential arbitration date.
++The story says, “According to Chriss Street, the partners were looking for $250,000 each for their stakes in the firm, an amount he called unreasonable.”
No request was ever made by Ray Pentz or myself for any specific monetary value for our ownership interest in the firm. I cannot understand why Chriss would go on record with such an untruth.
++The story states, “Street and Sheetz came to the Business Journal’s office late last week after they learned that the two departed executives had spoken to the paper” and Chriss is quoted as saying, “It is obvious that the confidentiality has been thrown out in the open, so we would like to respond.”
Street and Don Sheetz knew in late August, more than a month before the OCBJ story, that Ray Pentz and myself had spoken to reporter Rajiv Vyas, according to a Sept. 13 letter to Pentz from Street Asset’s attorney Darryl Sheetz.
++The story says Street and Don Sheetz “previously refused to comment on this story, citing non-disclosure passages in Street Asset’s operating agreement.”
Street Asset’s operating agreement does not exclude talking to the press about reasons for departing the firm.
++The story does not mention that Don Sheetz and Street were contacted numerous times over many weeks by reporter Vyas but that they chose not to respond until a day before “deadline,” after learning the article had been written despite their threats of legal action. A letter from Darryl Sheetz had warned the paper to be cautious about any possible inaccuracies. Further, in an effort to kill the story, Darryl Sheetz sent a letter to Pentz and myself threatening “immediate legal action” for any “negative information” relayed to the press.
Kurt Stabel
(Stabel is the former chief investment officer at Street Asset Management.)
Thanks
We want to thank you for noting our return to the Irvine-Newport Beach area. We’ve had many positive comments about being included in the Business Journal’s OC Insider column.
Cliff and Kathy Huffstetler
Cliff’s Ragin’ Cajun
Irvine
