Did Mayor Pro Tem Sho Tay Lay An “Arcadia’s Best” Hit Piece on Councilman Tom Beck Under the Name of Its Long Departed Editor, Scott Hettrick?

– Courtesy photo

By Sierra Madre Tattler

OK, here’s the deal. Things have gotten weird in Peacock town, and I’m going to try and untangle the mystery for you. But please remember, it is now election season in Arcadia. Things will happen.

As you might not have known, the famed “Arcadia’s Best” blog is now run by Arcadia’s Mayor Pro Tem, Sho Tay. Arcadia’s Best used to be the pride and joy of a fellow named Scott Hettrick. Scott ran it as a Chamber of Commerce news site, and filled it with articles that promoted local businesses and civic events. Nice booster style stuff.

However, Scott moved to Nebraska a couple of years back to be with his grand kids and gave up the blog business. Things then quickly went downhill at a site many now refer to as “Arcadia’s Worst.”

Last week someone posted a truly nasty hit piece on the Arcadia’s Best site crucifying current Arcadia City Councilman Tom Beck. And this person did it using the name Scott Hettrick. Scott, after being contacted by incredulous Arcadia residents at his home in faraway Omaha, swore he had nothing to do with it. And why would he? He gave the site to Sho Tay two years ago and hasn’t touched it since. Plus this isn’t his style. Scott is a nice guy.

Sho Tay was then contacted and asked why he had written such a thing and posted it on a site many still believe has something to do with civic involvement and promoting the nicer things in Arcadia. Sho claimed it wasn’t him, but rather it was posted by hackers and he would take care of it right away.

So what was Sho Tay’s idea of taking care of this situation? Did he take down the offending article and apologize to Scott Hettrick? Or explain to a baffled community that the article was put there by a hacker, and that he has hired professionals to improve the security on a site that he himself owns?

No, instead he left the article up. Sho admitted that Hettrick didn’t write it, but then gave it the name of a new author. The hit piece remained publicly attached to the name Scott Hettrick, but Sho said it was actually posted by someone nobody has ever heard of.

Look, if your website was hacked and such nastiness was left there, and under the name of a highly respected fellow who ran the local Chamber of Commerce for years no less, you’d immediately pull it down, right? Then call the cops. Obviously Sho Tay’s odd solution raises a lot of questions.

My opinion! What follows is conjecture, but it is where the evidence is pointing. Sho Tay, or someone close to him, wrote the piece, and he posted it on his site under the name of Scott Hettrick because he thought that would lend it some credibility. Obviously Sho felt it needed a credibility boost, and for once he was right. And if true, this was all a very bizarre thing for a Mayor Pro Tem to do; even one from Arcadia.