Zareh Sinanyan Finally Apologizes For Hateful Comments

A week after Zareh Sinanyan admitted responsibility for the hateful online comments first reported here nearly two months ago, he finally publicly apologized for the content of those comments at last night's City Council meeting:

“I apologize to anyone who might have been offended by my past comments. I am truly sorry. Many have said they look forward to my future performance, and as I have said many times, my performance will speak for itself. When I appeared before the council as a candidate and addressed the subject of these blog posts, I explained that they were not me, they were not reflective of my character. That was true then, just as it is now. I am here to serve the people of Glendale. All of the people. It truly does not matter to me if you are Armenian, or Latino, or Anglo, or Korean; it doesn’t matter if you’re gay, or straight. And it doesn’t matter if you are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or Hindu. As my life experiences have demonstrated, the only thing that matters to me is that I want to serve Glendale. Working together to improve our homes is who I am. That is reflective of my character, and I fully welcome and invite people to use this standard to measure my success and effort.”

Good apology; it's frankly amazing he didn't give it two months ago instead of attacking and obfuscating. The apology begins at approximately minute 32 of last night's meeting.

(update: the News-Press just put up their story on the apology.)

Like Tropico Station on Facebook! - I post new content on the Facebook page nearly every day

Follow @TropicoStation on Twitter

A Genocide Denied Is A Genocide Repeated

The forthcoming Armenian Genocide Museum of America in Washington, DC, has produced a powerful short video with the message that a genocide denied is a genocide repeated:

The efforts to build the museum are being led by the Armenian National Institute, which has an excellent website with information about the genocide, in which the Ottoman Turks are well documented to have killed approximately 1.5 million Armenians between 1915-1920. Glendale's annual Armenian genocide commemorative event is April 24th at the Alex Theatre (04/23 update. The City of Glendale now says "there are no more tickets for the Armenian Genocide Commemoration Event on 4/24. There will be a stand-by line that evening at the Alex Theatre for tickets."). The flyer for that and other city commemorative events is below:

The Glendale News-Press also has an article with information about a number of other commemorative events this week:

• Armenian Genocide Commemoration Events Scheduled Citywide

(Hat tip to my friend Edlin, who is involved with outreach efforts for the new museum and sent me the video. You should also check out another non-profit she's involved in called One Armenia, which uses crowd-funding and transparent reporting to support various environmental, humanitarian and cultural projects in Armenia.)

Like Tropico Station on Facebook! - I post new content on the Facebook page nearly every day

Follow @TropicoStation on Twitter

Glendale City Council Member Zareh Sinanyan Admits Responsibility For Online Comments

In response to deeply felt criticism of his hateful online comments from members of the gay and Muslim communities at his first ever city council meeting, Glendale City Council Member Zareh Sinanyan has now publicly admitted responsibility and expressed regret for those comments.


He was particularly moved by the eloquent words of Glendale High student Zehra Siddiqui, who noted that Muslim students in Glendale are often bullied for their religion, and that it's important for role models in the community to take responsibility for their actions, whether good or bad.

From Ron Kaye's column in the Glendale News-Press:

"She was the one who got to me. After she spoke all I could think about was, 'Why would I say something that would insult someone like her?' I would just hope that she would forgive me, I didn't mean those things. They were obviously made in anger. 

"I will do my best to represent her to the best of my abilities. I see her as the future of America. By my actions, I will show who I really am, that those words are not me." 

Clearly, Sinanyan will be living in a fish bowl for quite a while, at the center of tensions over the ascendance of Armenians in the political, economic and cultural life of a city that was very different a quarter century ago when his family arrived in the area. 

For him, and for Glendale, this presents a great challenge to overcome divisions and a great opportunity to move forward and build a greater city together.

I absolutely agree with the closing line. I hope Sinanyan will continue in the spirit of healing and accountability and fully defuse tensions by also apologizing for attacking others, including me, rather than immediately taking responsibility for the comments he has now admitted to writing. If he offers such an apology, I will consider the matter resolved and wish him best of luck on the council.

Sinanyan is smart and was well prepared at the community forums. We both share a sincere interest in South Glendale issues and I'm sure he can put this behind him, both for his own good, and the good of the city.

Zareh, get in touch: tropicostation@gmail.com.

PREVIOUSLY:

• Zareh Sinanyan's Infamous Alleged Youtube Comments
• Adam Schiff Withdraws Sinanyan Endorsement
• Sinanyan Scandal Updates, Detailed Responses to His Defenders
• Why It's Unlikely a "Hacker" Was Responsible for Alleged Sinanyan Comments
• Zareh Sinanyan Defends Himself Against Youtube Allegations
• Zareh Sinanyan Attacks, But Still Hasn't Denied Writing Hateful Comments or Apologized For Them

Like Tropico Station on Facebook! - I post new content on the Facebook page nearly every day

Follow @TropicoStation on Twitter

Zareh Sinanyan Attacks, But Still Hasn't Denied Writing Hateful Comments or Apologized For Them* (04/19 Update: He Has Now Admitted Responsibility & Expressed Regret)

*4/19/13 UPDATE: Zareh Sinanyan Has Finally Admitted Responsibility For Online Comments

The Glendale municipal election is over, and Zareh Sinanyan has secured a place on the Glendale City Council. A mere 356 votes separated him from Chahe Keuroghelian, who came in fourth. Voter turnout was low, at an estimated 18.2% of registered voters.

The Burbank Blog did a write up on the election results that I highly recommend reading.

If you’re reading this, I’ll assume you’ve also read the hateful comments that every available piece of evidence shows were written by Zareh Sinanyan over a period of several years. Not because I or anyone else says so, but because the allegations are verifiable using cached versions of both the comments and Zareh’s confirmed online accounts. If you haven’t read my previous posts on the allegations, please read them now to understand why this is serious:

• Zareh Sinanyan's Infamous Alleged Youtube Comments
• Adam Schiff Withdraws Sinanyan Endorsement
• Sinanyan Scandal Updates, Detailed Responses to His Defenders
• Why It's Unlikely a "Hacker" Was Responsible for Alleged Sinanyan Comments
• Zareh Sinanyan Defends Himself Against Youtube Allegations

Neither Sinanyan, nor anyone else has provided one shred of evidence challenging his authorship of the comments. All it would have taken to fully exonerate Sinanyan was documentation from Google that his account had been hacked for the period in question. When asked directly if he wrote the comments, Sinanyan (campaign motto: "Bringing Transparency and Accountability to Glendale"), gave one of the most misleading non-denials the world has ever seen. 

Truly, the video must be seen to be believed:

So just to be crystal clear on this:

Sinanyan has neither denied writing the hateful comments, nor apologized for their content.

Rather than responding to the evidence against him, Sinanyan and his supporters accused anyone drawing attention to the comments of conducting a “well-funded, well-organized racist smear campaign." Sinanyan himself, on the record, at a city council meeting, claimed that an anonymous source on *my blog* claimed their goal was to “take the Armenian community in general down.” This is 100% factually untrue. It was a cynical lie, meant to bully me and others who would demand an explanation into silence, close ranks within the Armenian community, and polarize Glendale along ethnic lines. I cannot find words to express my disgust.

The attacks directed at Councilmember Laura Friedman were far worse. For example, in an Armenian-language interview on Horizon TV posted on his official campaign Facebook page, Sinanyan compared Friedman to a Turk who doesn't care about Armenians* (minute 24):

SINANYAN: "And do you know what is unfortunate, maybe she has a small group of people with Armenian names, who aren't really true Armenians, they give her political legitimacy. In other words, you know when you meet some Turks and the first thing a Turk will say to an Armenian - and this is a really well known thing - is you're Armenian? I have many Armenian friends. And this is like Laura Friedman."

In Glendale, saying something like that is inflammatory and inexcusable. It should be denounced in the strongest possible terms by any organization or political candidate with a shred of decency**. The only reason these shameful tactics continue is because members of the community who should know better - most appallingly, The Glendale Teacher’s Association - remained silent.

So where does that leave us? It leaves me embarrassed for Glendale by what can only be explained by either tacit acceptance of bigotry or ignorance, enabled by low turnout. Local elections have a far bigger impact on day to day life than national elections, and proportionally, your vote is thousands of times more important to the outcome. Yet hardly anyone pays attention. Sinanyan was voted for by approximately 4% of Glendale's population. If you're catching up on this now and stayed home during the election, you deserve some of the blame.

Sinanyan will be sworn in at the City Council Reorganization meeting on April 15th.

Until Sinanyan takes responsibility for his actions and apologizes for both the comments*** and the cynical, divisive response to a scandal of his own making, the community must continue to demand an explanation from Sinanyan for his behavior. 

PREVIOUSLY:

• Zareh Sinanyan's Infamous Alleged Youtube Comments
• Adam Schiff Withdraws Sinanyan Endorsement
• Sinanyan Scandal Updates, Detailed Responses to His Defenders
• Why It's Unlikely a "Hacker" Was Responsible for Alleged Sinanyan Comments
• Zareh Sinanyan Defends Himself Against Youtube Allegations

notes:

* I had this translated by two different Armenian-speaking friends to verify the context and accuracy of the translation.

** Here’s a challenge for my Armenian-speaking readers: if you see anyone involved with Glendale politics saying something hateful in Armenian language media, record the TV program or save the article and send it to me with a summary in English. I will have an Armenian speaker verify the accuracy of the content and, if it is offensive, will post the original media together with an English language transcript so that the community at large can judge for themselves. Alternately, if you see a non-Armenian candidate using racially charged or discriminatory rhetoric towards Armenians and have a recording or a quote in English language media, send me that too. There should be one standard for hateful racial rhetoric in Glendale, not an English-language standard and an Armenian-language standard. Such rhetoric should be universally condemned.

*** Or provides actual exonerating evidence!

Like Tropico Station on Facebook! - I post new content on the Facebook page nearly every day

Follow @TropicoStation on Twitter

John Wayne's Childhood Home in Glendale For Sale

This Redfin listing caught my eye: 

"Astonishing craftsman duplex in the heart of Glendale. The front house has been completely remodeled. Must come to see. John Wayne's childhood home."

John Wayne was born in Iowa, but moved to Glendale when he was four and attended Wilson Middle School and Glendale High School, where he played football for the 1924 champion team. Legend has it that a local fireman first called Wayne "L'il Duke" because Wayne always walked to school with his dog, Duke.

Like Tropico Station on Facebook! - I post new content on the Facebook page nearly every day

Follow @TropicoStation on Twitter

Tropico Station's 2013 Glendale Municipal Election Endorsements

I went to two community forums, have personally spoken with most of the candidates, have been attacked at a city council meeting by one of them (!), and talked to dozens and dozens of Glendale residents about who they support and why. And of course, I've been watching the incumbents on the dais for years. The research phase is over.

Here are the conclusions I've come to and why. I've also linked to the Glendale News-Press endorsements so you can see what they have to say.

CITY COUNCIL

I endorse Laura Friedman, Sam Engel and Ara Najarian for City Council. Particularly at the candidate forums, they were much, much better informed than the rest of the field; usually by a large margin. The incumbents have a huge advantage in that they have been dealing with these issues day in and day out for four years, but in my opinion none of the non-incumbents besides Engel (and occasionally Roland Kedikian*) showed they could handle the complexities of managing our fine city.

I disagree with what Ara Najarian says pretty frequently, but he usually votes the right way, and his position on the board of the MTA is good for Glendale. Even though I disagree with him sometimes I respect his capabilities.

In her four years on the council Laura Friedman has developed a strong record of bike and pedestrian advocacy, support for the arts, and, with Ara, helped balance the city’s budget by negotiating for city employees to pay more of their pension costs while reducing salaries and maintaining the high level of services we expect in Glendale.

Sam Engel recently retired from years of service to the city as Neighborhood Services Administrator, and at the candidate forums showed a detailed understanding of Glendale issues and neighborhoods. I believe his years of experience would be an asset on the council. He and Laura are also the only City Council candidates to be endorsed by the LA County Democratic party.

• Glendale News-Press Endorsement of Ara Najarian, Laura Friedman and Sam Engel for City Council

CITY CLERK

I'm voting Ardashes Kassakhian for City Clerk. Ardy has encouraged me many times over the years to post more items encouraging voter registration and participation at city meetings and events, and has taken many proactive measures to promote the city and make public information available online. I believe him to be an honest and competent City Clerk. 

• Glendale News-Press endorsement of Ardy Kassakhian for City Clerk

SCHOOL BOARD

I've paid less attention to this than the city council race, but after talking to many people who pay closer attention to the school board than I, I am comfortable voting for incumbents Joylene Wagner, Chris Walters, Greg Krikorian...and newcomer Dan Cabrera. Of course, you can only vote for three, but I've heard many good things about the incumbents and think Dan Cabrera is a great guy. So there you go.

BALLOT MEASURES

YES on Measure A
"Shall the Charter be amended to convert the position of City Treasurer from elected to an appointed position; the appointment be made by the City Manager; be at-will; that the City Manager may assign certain duties to other deputies or the Director of Finance; that the minimum qualifications shall be in the Charter by reference to the Government Code; that the bond and oath of the City Clerk be filed with the City Attorney?"

For me, the best case for Measure A is this particular election: there's only one candidate for treasurer who is even willing to run! The person entrusted to manage the city's money should be the best person in a pool of qualified applicants, not literally the only person willing to run for office.

Cities with appointed treasurers also pay significantly less to borrow money. From the National Bureau of Economic Research:

Cities with elected treasurers also had more debt on average, were more likely to have directly elected mayors and clerks, and had lower per capita income and a less educated population – all of which could also influence borrowing costs. Controlling for those factors, cities with appointed treasurers paid 13 percent less to borrow than cities with elected treasurers. 

To get at the issue of causality, this study further refines the sample to examine the 31 cities that held a referendum during the period to replace an elected treasurer with an appointed one. Ten cities approved such a change. From that sample, he finds that cities spend 23 percent less to borrow money if they have an appointed treasurer.

Councilman Dave Weaver wrote a letter in favor of Measure A to the News-Press that I would recommend reading.

Official Measure A arguments (all links are PDFs):

• In Favor of Measure A
• Against Measure A
• Impartial Analysis of Measure A 

Glendale News-Press endorsement:

• No on Measure A (their original endorsement said that the council would appoint the treasurer, it has since been updated to reflect that the city manager would appoint the treasurer with the approval of the council)

YES on Measure B
"Shall the Charter be amended to update accounting provisions to eliminate obsolete funds and to reflect generally accepted accounting principles, to ensure proper accounting by establishing separate water and electric utility funds, and to clarify existing language regarding fund transfers?"

Measure B brings existing city budget and utility revenue accounting and transfer practices up to date with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. We should eliminate the contortions required to conform with accounting practices last defined in an era when it was still a great idea to put swastikas on lamp posts.


Official Measure B arguments (all links are PDFs):

• In Favor of Measure B
• Against Measure B
• Impartial Analysis of Measure B 

Glendale News-Press endorsement:

• Yes on Measure B

NO on Measure C
"Shall the Charter be amended to reflect the correct title of the Director of Finance, remove obsolete language regarding petty cash handling, require that the budget be adopted by June 30, and eliminate inefficiencies in bond sales by allowing flexibility?"

I'm voting no on Measure C because it opens the door for conflicts of interest by Wall Street firms seeking influence in municipal elections. The SEC has called the municipal bond market "illiquid and opaque" and their investigations have found that bond firms made pay-to-play political contributions to get contracts, engaged in questionable sales practices and excessively marked up bond prices. Though Measure C may have some other benefits, those must be weighed against the risk of possible future malfeasance.


Official Measure C arguments (all links are PDFs):

• In Favor of Measure C
• Against Measure C
• Impartial Analysis of Measure C

Glendale News-Press endorsement:

• No on Measure C

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Visit GlendaleVotes.org, the City of Glendale's official election portal. The Glendale News-Press has also been doing excellent election coverage, here are their endorsements. The "mailbag" section has also recently been full of arguments for and against just about everyone and everything, I'd recommend reading those letters as well to get a good range of opinions. You can watch the City Council and City Clerk candidates in action at the League of Women Voters candidate forum on Youtube.

Now get out there and vote on April 2nd!

*Though I am not endorsing him in this election, I want to give an honorable mention to Roland Kedikian. I believe that in this election, Sam, Ara and Laura are a better choice, but he impressed me at the forums with his reasoned thinking and dignified manner. I hope he stays involved with city politics.

Like Tropico Station on Facebook! - I post new content on the Facebook page nearly every day

Follow @TropicoStation on Twitter

Glendale Approves Disney's Grand Central Air Terminal Renovation Plan

The Grand Central Air Terminal, the elegant but long-neglected centerpiece of Glendale’s role in aviation history, is finally going to get the restoration it deserves. Glendale’s Historic Preservation Commission voted unanimously to approve Disney’s plan for the restoration of Grand Central, which includes extensive structural stabilization and seismic upgrades, restoration of the exterior and rehabilitation of significant interior spaces so the building can be adaptively reused as a visitor center, offices and event space for the surrounding Disney Grand Central Creative Complex. According to the 2000 agreement between Glendale and Disney (pdf link), limited public access is required, probably through a reservation system. There will be a media wall and interpretive displays illuminating the history of Grand Central. Excitingly, many of the renderings show an airplane out front. An actual airplane (or two!) in front of Grand Central would provide historical context in a way no media wall can.

I spoke at the meeting to comment on the Grand Central Air Terminal proposal. Here's what I said:

I really like the proposal. I have 3 comments: 

1. I understand that Disney is only required to provide "limited public access" through a reservation system, but I would hope that as a gesture of goodwill toward the community Disney will increase the scope of public access and not require reservations to visit the terminal. Perhaps in addition to the historical displays they could even add rotating exhibits of items from the Disney Archives, which are located nearby, to encourage the public to visit and learn about the rich history of both the Grand Central Air Terminal and the Walt Disney Company. I recently visited the Reagan Library, and there was a temporary exhibit of Disney memorabilia there that was very well attended. It would also be great if local non-profits such as Ascencia or The Glendale Historical Society could use the event space for fundraisers in what will be the most beautiful and historic building in Glendale. 

2. In the proposal, having a plane on the taxiway is presented as a mere "possibility." Having a plane out front is a fantastic idea that instantly provides historical context in a way no "media wall" possibly can. I would recommend at least two planes: a twin engined DC-3 airliner, which occupies the taxiway in many of the most iconic photographs of the Grand Central Air Terminal; and also a P-38 Lighting*, the sleek twin-tailed fighter that operated from Grand Central in great numbers during World War Two. 

A P-38 flying out of Grand Central. 

3. I also would like to suggest allowing limited public access to the control tower itself, which the proposal mentions cannot be "legally" used as it contains only one means of access. I'm not sure if the city could grant an exemption of some kind to allow access, or perhaps visitors could sign a waiver before entering. I'm sure the views from up there are great. It would be especially cool if that area were restored to the way it looked when Grand Central was a functioning airport and give visitors an evocative glimpse into this piece of Glendale, and now Disney, history.

The HPC approved the project unanimously with 2 conditions -- that Disney add a beacon element to the control tower, and use glass in one area for historical accuracy -- and 2 considerations, which the commission cannot require Disney to do but request they consider: allow greater public access than required in the 2000 development agreement and place an airplane of the appropriate period on the site.

The Air Terminal building and control tower at 1310 Air Way is just about all that remains from Glendale’s once thriving Grand Central Airport. Grand Central was the departure site for the nation’s first regularly scheduled coast to coast flight, piloted by Charles Lindbergh. Other famous names in aviation who flew from Grand Central include Amelia Earhart, Wiley Post, Jack Northrop and Howard Hughes. The airport became a military base during WWII, and was used to train pilots to fly the P-38 Lightning fighter. The airport closed in the late 1950s and the area has been offices and warehouses ever since. The Air Terminal building itself fell into disrepair in the early 1990s, and Disney purchased the building in 1997.

Some plans and renderings from the proposal are below.

I highly recommend looking through the whole report, there are many great details:

• Staff Report and Disney Proposal for Grand Central Air Terminal Renovation Project (PDF link)

After the restoration, Grand Central will once again be the most beautiful and historic building in Glendale. I just hope the public can visit!

previously:

• A Zeppelin Over Glendale and the Ill-Fated Slate Dirigible Company
• The Future of The Grand Central Air Terminal (and Vintage Warplanes Over Glendale)
• Grand Central Air Terminal, 1940
• Grand Details

* City Clerk Ardy Kassakhian is an aviation buff and has been saying a P-38 should be out front for years, so credit to him for that. I also know that P-38s are staggeringly rare, a replica would be fine, perhaps with the markings of a unit that actually flew from Grand Central during WWII.

Like Tropico Station on Facebook! - I post new content on the Facebook page nearly every day

Follow @TropicoStation on Twitter

Why Solar Won't Work in Glendale

Cadillac Ends Up on Glendale Rooftop (LA Weekly)

Like Tropico Station on Facebook! - I post new content on the Facebook page nearly every day

Follow @TropicoStation on Twitter

Glendale's "Space 134" Freeway Park Concept To Be Presented to City Council

Tomorrow night the Glendale City Council will review an initial concept presentation exploring the idea of capping the 134 freeway to create park space between Central and Glendale Avenue, similar to Seattle's Freeway Park, Boston's Rose Kennedy Greenway and the proposed park over the 101 Freeway in Hollywood. Hopefully people will come speak at the meeting and send the council letters in support of a project along these lines that would create more badly needed park space in Glendale. The funding to explore the idea came from a grant front the Southern California Association of Governments, and has been led Glendale's mobility planner Mike Nilsson in conjuction with planning and urban design consultants Melendrez. Seeing something of this scale come to fruition would take many years, but the project is set up in phases that can be implemented if the support is there within the community.

Here's the staff report with the details:

• Space 134 Project Concept (PDF link)

Renderings of the idea and possible short and long term implementations of the concept:

Like Tropico Station on Facebook! - I post new content on the Facebook page nearly every day

Follow @TropicoStation on Twitter

Zareh Sinanyan Defends Himself Against Youtube Allegations*

*4/19/13 UPDATE: Zareh Sinanyan Has Finally Admitted Responsibility For Online Comments

City Council Candidate Zareh Sinanyan took the opportunity to clear the air Tuesday night against allegations that he was responsible for a large volume of hateful comments on Youtube over a period of several years. You can stream the full meeting if you wish. This exchange begins at approximately 2:51.


ARA NAJARIAN
Once and far all, let’s be clear about it. Zareh, you deny these comments, is that correct?


ZAREH SINANYAN
Mr. Najarian, I answered the question twice. One correction; I was appointed to CBDG in 2008 by Bob Yousefian; Ms. Friedman removed me in 2009, you merely reappointed me. Thank you. I answered the same question, I’m happy to talk about city issues, but I can’t be brought back to answer the same question over and over again. I stated in my paper, that's it, I answered. So, with that in mind... [moves to sit down]


LAURA FRIEDMAN
Wait, wait - you said they're ‘not you.’ Did you write those posts? Did you write any of the Youtube posts that were attributed to you?”


ZAREH SINANYAN
It’s not a simple question. It’s not a simple question.


LAURA FRIEDMAN
How is that not a simple question?


ZAREH SINANYAN
It’s not a simple question because…I don’t know what I’m looking at. I don’t know what I’m looking at because…a certain blogger, who’s related to you, very closely, keeps threatening that there are more posts, that these are posts, that there’s this, there’s that…this happened, that happened. So…unless I see what it is that I’m being faced with, I’m not answering that question more so than I’ve already answered it.


LAURA FRIEDMAN
There are several Youtube comments on that blog with your name on them. I’m sure you saw those. Did you write any of those posts that have your name on them that were on that blog? It’s a very simple question.


ZAREH SINANYAN
Personally I haven’t been on that blog, nor do I care to, but I know what’s on it because it’s been conveyed to me. I answered the question, you can ask me five more times, and you’re going to get the same answer.


LAURA FRIEDMAN
You’re not denying having written any of those?


ZAREH SINANYAN
I told you that these are not my statements, they don’t reflect me, they don’t reflect my qualities…


LAURA FRIEDMAN
I understand they "don’t 'reflect' your qualities," but did you WRITE them?


ZAREH SINANYAN
I am telling you that I am investigating this issue and trying to understand. You’re asking me to answer about something… [indignant] they don’t reflect me, I don’t write stuff like that. You can’t bring one person who will say that Zareh talks like that, Zareh acts like that, Zareh writes like that. That’s the point.

previously:

• Zareh Sinanyan's Infamous Alleged Youtube Comments
• Adam Schiff Withdraws Sinanyan Glendale City Council Endorsement in Light of Allegations
• Sinanyan Scandal Updates & Detailed Responses to His Defenders
• Why It's Unlikely A "Hacker" Was Responsible For the Alleged Sinanyan Comments

Like Tropico Station on Facebook! - I post new content on the Facebook page nearly every day

Follow @TropicoStation on Twitter

Why It's Unlikely A "Hacker" Was Responsible For the Alleged Sinanyan Comments*

*4/19/13 UPDATE: Zareh Sinanyan Has Finally Admitted Responsibility For Online Comments

If City Council candidate Zareh Sinanyan chooses to deny the allegations that he made dozens of obscene Youtube comments in front of the City Council on Tuesday night (PDF) rather than apologizing and moving forward with his campaign, I'm guessing he will claim some variation on "I was hacked!"

There are two possible scenarios that explain the events we’ve seen. One in which Sinanyan is responsible for the comments, and one in which a supposed “hacker” is responsible.

A commenter named D. Johnson on the Glendale News-Press article makes a concise case against a supposed “hack” quite nicely, that I've expanded on:

Five years ago, someone named "Zareh Sinanyan" posted a comment on YouTube that said, among other things, "your entire family is composed of whores and ****suckers." In that same 5-year-old comment thread on YouTube, that same "Zareh Sinanyan" also said "I'm a business litigator" 

Now, there are only a few possibilities here: 

1. The comment was posted 5 years ago by the same Zareh Sinanyan now running for Glendale City Council 

2. The comment was posted 5 years ago by some other Zareh Sinanyan, not the person currently running for Glendale City Council, but also a business litigator 

3. The comment was posted 5 years ago by some nasty person using the name "Zareh Sinanyan", knowing that Zareh Sinanyan would be a political candidate sometime in the future, and that the comment could then be used to smear him 

4. The comment was posted anonymously 5 years ago under a pseudonym that due to Google+ and YouTube interaction later became linked to the real name of Zareh Sinanyan 

The simple fact is that makes #4 by far the most likely option is that the comment was posted to YouTube 5 years ago - unless you believe that YouTube, which is owned by Google, the world's largest and most secure website, is in on the "conspiracy." 

Additional evidence against the possibility of a nasty person impersonating Mr. Sinanyan is that somehow, that person would need to:

• fluidly write hundreds of comments in a mix Russian, Armenian and English, the exact languages Mr. Sinanyan speaks
• in addition to the vulgar and racist posts; have the literary imagination to write dozens of comments about Armenian and Russian history, completely banal posts (“Wow, ribeye steak in Yerevan!”), and otherwise maintain a lively online life with lots of back and forth comments on dozens of threads over a half a decade period
• somehow get into Mr. Sinanyan’s Google account to merge it with the Youtube account WITHOUT Mr. Sinanyan knowing or realizing the two had been merged, since Mr. Sinanyan apparently continued to use the Google account normally after the two were merged
• break into Mr. Sinanyan’s absolutely 100% verified Facebook account in September to leave a comment referring to “Mongol Tatars,” a favorite enemy of the Youtube persona
• change the username of the Youtube account from “Zareh Sinanyan” to “Thomas Paine” and then “Lightbulb”
• Change the name used on the Google account linked to the Youtube account to "Thomas Paine," and send an official campaign related e-mail via Sinanyan’s personal e-mail address to the Glendale Association of Realtors that linked Sinanyan’s e-mail address to the renamed “Thomas Paine” account

More things that don't make sense if an impostor was involved:

Why would any impersonator conduct a thorough cover-up of the damaging posts right after the e-mail with the tip had been circulated but before most of the public was aware of the allegations?

Would an impostor really go to the trouble of creating FIVE YEARS worth of fake posts, then not leave them up online for the world to see? Wouldn’t they leave them up instead of hoping local media could put the pieces together using incomplete cached versions of the comments? I’ve found dozens of very nasty posts in the cached versions of the comments, but those who viewed the original e-mail and looked through the full set of comments made by the Youtube account before the cover-up saw many, many more incriminating posts that were deleted and not cached.

Which explanation is most likely to be true?

As with any event that one does not personally witness, you can only verify information to a degree of probability based on the evidence available. And every single piece of publicly available evidence in this matter thus far points to a high probability that Mr. Sinanyan was responsible for the content of the posts and attempted to hide his connection to the Youtube and Google account when knowledge of the obscene comments became public.

previously:

• Zareh Sinanyan's Infamous Alleged Youtube Comments
• Adam Schiff Withdraws Sinanyan Glendale City Council Endorsement in Light of Allegations
• Sinanyan Scandal Updates & Detailed Responses to His Defenders

Like Tropico Station on Facebook! - I post new content on the Facebook page nearly every day

Follow @TropicoStation on Twitter

Sinanyan Scandal Updates & Detailed Responses to His Defenders*

*4/19/13 UPDATE: Zareh Sinanyan Has Finally Admitted Responsibility For Online Comments

In the wake of the scandal that broke here Tuesday linking City Council candidate Zareh Sinanyan to a large volume of obscene comments on various websites, additional prominent political leaders have rescinded their earlier support. In addition to Congressman Adam Schiff, Eric Garcetti, Wendy Greuel, and Paul Krekorian have also all retracted their endorsements. To Sinanyan’s credit, he has promptly removed references to them from his official campaign website. The ongoing scandal has since been covered in the Daily News, Glendale News-Press, LA Observed and LAist.

Most importantly, it was covered in this agenda item for this Tuesday’s City Council meeting (PDF), where the City Council will inquire into whether Mr. Sinanyan authored the comments. Mr. Sinanyan serves as a commissioner at the pleasure of the council, so if a majority of the council believes it’s likely he is responsible for the comments and that it is damaging to the reputation of the city to have him continue as a Community Block Grant commissioner, they are free to remove him from his appointed position.

Among Zareh supporters in the comment section on my previous posts (first post, second post) there there have been five main defenses against the allegations. As it is impractical for me to respond to each individual comment, here are the main defenses I've heard and a detailed response to each one.

**warning: many of the image links below contain offensive content**

1. It was a smear campaign by an anonymous source/shady political operative/Turkish Intelligence!

While I’m sure Mr. Sinanyan does have political enemies, and the timing is potentially damaging to his City Council campaign, these observations do nothing to challenge the volume of third-party evidence that shows that he is very likely to have said was is alleged to have said. As I documented in my previous posts, I did not publish any information from the original anonymous e-mail that was sent to many in Glendale without investigating it myself, verifying the links between the account that made the comments and Sinanyan's confirmed accounts and describing my process. The Glendale News-Press also investigated the claims and came to similar conclusions. Every bit of information alleged in the initial anonymous e-mail was verifiable by third party sources with no stake in the election, including the cached files of several of the world’s largest and most secure tech companies. The technical skills required to uncover the comments initially weren’t hacker-level ninjitsu - anyone who has ever used a search engine could find them just as easily by simply typing the candidate’s name into Google or Yahoo. It would be a smear campaign against Mr. Sinanyan if the allegations weren’t true, but as one commenter noted, using someone’s racist and vulgar statements to portray them as being racist and vulgar isn’t a smear; it’s accountability.

And yes, I did get a comment blaming it on Turkish Intelligence, as well as numerous anonymous comments decrying the anonymity of the original tip with no apparent sense of irony.

2. He was only attacking people who were denying the Armenian Genocide.

This was claimed by the highly partisan Asbarez Armenian newspaper. They are correct that some posts were on videos and comment threads that discussed the Armenian genocide, in which the Ottoman Turks are well documented to have killed 1.5 million Armenians between 1915-1920; but many of the disturbing posts were on videos and topics unrelated to the horror of the genocide, including MMA videos.

3. The comments weren’t really so bad! Who hasn’t gotten into a heated argument online?

I certainly have. But not like this, this or this. Especially disturbing are the numerous posts referring to Muslims as “raghead cockroaches” and wishing them death. I have many, many more examples of these comments that will singe your hair. The sheer volume and inventiveness of obscenity is stunning. If you think this is acceptable language for a candidate for higher office, so be it, but it would be far-fetched for Mr. Sinanyan to claim that he didn’t know that city commissioners and candidates for elected office would be held to a higher standard of behavior than the average Youtube flame-war participant.

4. Perhaps Sinanyan wrote the comments, but an anonymous hacker got into his home computer and made them public! That hacker should be prosecuted!

The allegations in the initial anonymous e-mail had nothing to do with linking the comments to a specific computer or IP address; the allegations are linked to Sinanyan via his Google account, which he could log into from any computer he had access to. The comments themselves were openly published online and didn’t require any “hacking” to view - they were all freely visible under Mr. Sinanyan’s name. Additionally, the connections shown between the Youtube account and the Google account were all made using information that Mr. Sinanyan himself had chosen to make public in various online profiles, no special access or “hacking” required.

5. He didn’t write the comments at all - he was hacked by an impostor!

This is the big argument that keeps coming up, so I've written a post with an analysis of why a "hack" of the necessary scope and duration is highly unlikely.

Like Tropico Station on Facebook! - I post new content on the Facebook page nearly every day

Follow @TropicoStation on Twitter

Adam Schiff Withdraws Sinanyan Glendale City Council Endorsement in Light of Allegations*

*4/19/13 UPDATE: Zareh Sinanyan Has Finally Admitted Responsibility For Online Comments

Congressman Adam Schiff has officially withdrawn his support for Glendale City Council candidate Zareh Sinanyan in light of the allegations that became public at Tuesday's City Council meeting.


From Patrick Boland, Communications Director for Congressman Adam Schiff (D-Burbank):

"When this issue was brought to his attention on Tuesday, Congressman Schiff immediately directed his staff to inform the Sinanyan campaign that he was withdrawing his endorsement.  In the letter to the Sinanyan campaign from his campaign, Schiff confirmed that he could not support anyone who made such deeply offensive and bigoted statements."

The letter sent by Congressman's staff is below:

"It has been alleged that Mr. Sinanyan may have posted deeply offensive and bigoted  messages on websites and social media platforms.  We certainly hope that this is not the case, and that he has no connection to the vile comments that are being attributed to him. 

Until this matter is resolved, however, Mr. Schiff must withdraw his endorsement and ask that his name not be included on any campaign materials.  The comments alleged are deeply disturbing and not befitting any member of the public let alone one seeking to  represent the city on an elected body." 

Here's some background on the allegations that I published on Tuesday: I received a tip about the comments on Monday morning via an anonymous e-mail. I know others in Glendale received the same e-mail, and I've had several people contact me this week (before I published my post) asking if I knew about the alleged comments. So I didn't uncover the comments per se, though I was the first person to publish them besides Sinanyan himself. When I first received the e-mail, I checked and verified that all of the comments were online from the account linked to Sinanyan's name, that all of the timestamps were correct (since some of the posts go back five years), and I verified that all of the information in the screen captures I received was accurate and not Photoshopped. And indeed, all of the comments were publicly available online at Youtube at that time, with that time stamp information, under the name Zareh Sinanyan. I also looked at other comments made by the same account, and there were dozens, maybe hundreds of additional comments, all similarly vulgar. By Monday afternoon the comments started disappearing from YouTube, presumably as Sinanyan got word that people were poking around his comment history. Also, I believe that for most of the account's history, it was an "anonymous" account -- but that Sinanyan unwisely chose to link his YouTube account to his Google Plus account, which retroactively revealed him as the author of the formerly anonymous comments.

I also would also like to highlight criticism of the allegations from the lively comment section under the initial post:

Anonymous commented: 

"I can't believe the amount of people who have given these accusations any real merit. What if I took your name and doctored comments on your behalf, passing them out to your neighbors saying you're a thief? What would you do?
These are a fool's attempt to discredit Zareh, who is the right choice for this city."

To address the very valid concerns of this commenter:

I fully agree with you that it would be terrible if someone doctored comments to incriminate a candidate. I am very concerned about that very possibility when dealing with anonymously sourced information. As a result, I took extensive steps to verify myself that all of the comments in the screen captures I received were accurate with what had been published online over a period of many years. In doing so, I concluded that the images I received were not doctored, that the comments were easily findable, on many sites, and part of a much larger pattern of vitriolic comments going back years. Most of the trail of comments is still online in some form. Googling "Zareh Sinanyan" and various obscenities yields many results on many sites over a long period of time. 

Additionally, I checked Sinanyan's Google+ profile (The name has since been rather preposterously changed to "Thomas Paine," but the original name is still visible in Google searches. The Youtube account is part of his Google+ Profile), and it lists his Google + connections as M Toumajan, Hovanes Manucharyan, Sarkis Jacob Babachanian, and Stepan Boyajian. I checked Sinanyan's Facebook profile -- the completely official profile through which he comments on his campaign -- and every single one of those people is Facebook friends with Zareh through his official Facebook account.

This proved to me that it was overwhelmingly likely that the Youtube account belonged to the same Zareh Sinanyan and not an impostor or someone with the same name. 

respectfully, 

Scott Lowe
Tropico Station

The Sinanyan campaign has not addressed the matter publicly. The Glendale City Council will be inquiring into the matter at next Tuesday's council meeting.

Like Tropico Station on Facebook! - I post new content on the Facebook page nearly every day

Follow @TropicoStation on Twitter