Voice of San Diego’s Rob Davis describes Kittle’s legacy as the Union-Tribune‘s former editorial page editor:
“He was very liberal with the facts,” [Councilmember and former mayoral candidate Donna] Frye said. “And had a great disregard for truth. Name-calling goes with the territory. That doesn’t bother me. But what bothered me was the absolute lack of factual information. When facts are deliberately tortured, that’s not ethical journalism.”More recently, Kittle engaged in few battles that were as vitriolic as his fight with Mike Aguirre, the former city attorney. The irony in their sometimes petulant squabbles: Kittle had endorsed Aguirre in 2004. That was a short romance.
They clashed over pension issues. They clashed over Sanders’ proposed reforms. And as in many knock-down fights, they clashed over the irrelevant, such an Aguirre aide’s use of foul language. Aguirre eventually started his own blog, largely dedicated to refuting Kittle editorials.
One 2007 editorial accused Aguirre of violating campaign finance laws. The local Republican Party jumped on the news. GOP officials marched into the City Clerk’s Office — TV cameras watching closely — to file an ethics complaint against Aguirre.
But the editorial’s accusation was baseless.