Talk:Richard C. Blum

message: Should this be added?
Royal Nepalese Embassies & Consulate Offices Abroad
Mr. Richard Blum
Honorary Royal Nepalese Consul General for San-Francisco
909 Montgomery Street - Suite 400
San Francisco, California 94133
Phone: 415-434-1111
WoodenBooks (talk) 19:09, 25 December 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Richard Blum as Honorary Royal Nepalese Consul General for San Francisco

message: Richard Blum is an investor, a University of California Regent and former chairman of the Board of Regents, the governing body of the biggest and most import public university system in the US. He is also married to the senior US senator from California. The question is whether his financial disclosure form (Form 700 as it is commonly known to the public in California) is a valid addition to his biography. I say yes, not just because I'm the one trying to add it to the article.
The University of California System is presently being rocked by demonstrations (students being pepper-sprayed, as you may have seen on CNN) over tuition increases. His financial disclosure form, which is an important transparency tool in American government, is germane, because it shows the holdings of a billionaire who is a member of an extremely wealthy Board of Regents who the students believe, rightly or wrongly, are out of touch with the needs of common people. He filed the form; it's called a "disclosure form" for just that reason, so that the public knows his financial interests, and is a common window for the public to find out about officials in the US where this article is most likely to be read. I'll also add that at the bottom of the article there is already material by someone else that he has been accused of profiting from public positions in the past. For that reason, as well, his financial disclosure form is an integral part of an article on him, and since it was filled out by he himself, stamped by the university, required by law if he wants to serve as a UC Regent, there can be no accusation of bias about its inclusion. He's been filling out one for each of the last few years and he knows that disclosure is the price of public service in California. It's not rude, unfair or discriminatory. It is information on the subject, which I thought Wikipedia was all about. Journalists use this site and as I understand it from my journalist-friends, "follow the money" is the guiding principle of understanding the American political system and how decisions are made.  But this is my first time trying to make an addition, so you tell me what you think. I can't just do a link, because it's a PDF, I would have to add the PDF to the references at the bottom because that's how UC gives out the information, as PDFs. If it makes any difference the PDF includes the disclosure forms of all the UC regents and the university president, both those appointed by the former Republican governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and the present Democrat, Jerry Brown. I am actually a little confused by the debate. It's good information. If it were the autopsy report on John Kennedy for an article on the Kennedy assassination, or a copy of the Tonkin Gulf Resolution for an article on the American involvement in the War in Vietnam, no one would question it. It is, I believe, good and appropriate information. But you tell me.190.9.234.151 (talk) 23:30, 21 November 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Richard Blum's financial disclosure form 

message: I'm afraid I am not reading the suggested sites on Wikipolicies but it's not sinking in entirely. Is there some way to place the document here for people to look at and consider how it might be used? I think this is not a content question as much as it is a format question. I know format is still important but I think the information is valuable so I'm looking for suggestions. Is sandbox appropriate in this case?190.9.234.151 (talk) 15:16, 22 November 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Blum Financial statement