Taping Spurs Legion Action : Dispute: State and district leaders have put Newport’s Post 291 on probation and ordered members not to videotape meetings.

American Legion member Gene Ross says video cameras are wonderful things because “you don’t lie to the camera.”

But some American Legion brass are not so enthralled with videotapings. In fact, they are furious that Ross started taping Legion corporate board meetings in recent weeks.

“I taped the meetings because the minutes that came out didn’t reflect the truth of what went on during the meetings,” Ross said. “I sat in on those corporate meetings, and the minutes just weren’t telling the truth. So I thought, we’d just videotape the meetings like they tape the meetings of the Newport Beach City Council.”

Some officials of Post 291 on Balboa Peninsula were livid. One of them punched Ross on Sept. 8. But the following night, the overall membership of the post voted overwhelmingly for meetings open both to videotaping and press coverage. Rank-and-file Legion members said they enjoyed seeing Ross’ tapes of the board meetings, which were played on television sets in the post bar.

Ross said he thought all was well and that the dispute was over. But on Wednesday night, some state and district officials of the American Legion unexpectedly descended on Post 291. They told a visibly surprised membership that national regulations of the Legion require meetings to be private and confidential and closed to all media. No more videotaped meetings, the officials decreed.

Moreover, one of the officials announced that Post 291 was on probation “until you people clean up your act.”

The edict produced an angry outburst from about 160 members.

“There were angry shouts of ‘This isn’t Russia!’ and ‘We fought for press freedom!’ ” said Pat Michaels, a former ABC and Los Angeles TV newsman who now owns a public relations firm in Costa Mesa.

Michaels, a Legion member, said he also was angry at the clampdown on videotapings and the closure to the media.

“I was the one who made the motion (on Sept. 9) to have all meetings open to the media,” Michaels said. “I think an action like this is going to hurt the post with the city and the local community.”

American Legion state and district officials could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

Some Legionnaires questioned the existence of a regulation that prohibits members from taping Legion meetings.

“I’ve never seen a rule to that effect,” said John McDaniel, secretary of the post’s corporate board, on Thursday.

McDaniel added that the Legion officials who put the post on probation indicated that they didn’t like interfering with Post 291. “We’ve got 1,500 members, and we’re the third biggest Legion post in the state,” McDaniel said.

Situated on 15th Street, next to the bay, the post headquarters is a Newport Beach landmark. Former Newport Beach resident Joseph Wambaugh gave the post prominent mention in his novel “The Golden Orange.”

Ross’ videotapes, however, have now cast a pall on the future of the colorful post. Michaels said one statewide Legion official on Wednesday night threatened to dissolve the post “if it persists in trying to open its meetings to the public or the media.”

Ross, a Korean War Navy veteran, said he doesn’t regret his actions.

“We wanted to record these meetings the way they actually happened, not the way the minutes said they happened,” Ross said. The unexpected taking away of that freedom does not sit well with Post 291 members, he added.

“We’ve got a lot of unhappy campers,” he said.