Wednesday, April 15, 2026

News or Nonsense? SFGATE’s Hit Piece on Clayton

Clayton Club
Funny how some reporters can spot a restaurant story from 30 miles away, yet somehow miss the facts sitting right in front of them. The latest SFGATE
 piece on Clayton Club reads less like journalism and more like a drive-by hit piece on a small town that deserves better. When recycled sources, old grudges, and half-checked claims become the foundation of a story, readers are left with fiction dressed up as reporting. Don’t take our word for it—read the article yourself and decide whether it was news… or nonsense.

Courtesy of Clayton Watch: The following letter was sent to Jessica Yadegaran, SFGATE’s food editor, along with several of her editors. Please click the link and review the article for yourself.

We’re not sure why Jessica, along with her friend Tamara Steiner and her go-to source Jay Bedecarré, seem so determined to take repeated shots at our beautiful little city.

The article was filled with questionable claims, selective narratives, and plenty of nonsense. Read it for yourself—and decide.
_________________________

Jessica, You can do better.

The recent SFGATE article on the Clayton Club tells part of the story, but not the whole story.

It leans heavily on selective voices and negative anecdotes, while leaving out the broader reality of what the Clayton Club meant to this community for decades.

A couple important facts worth clearing up:

• Tamara Steiner is a former editor of the Clayton Pioneer, a paper that is no longer in operation, not a current local news source.
• The nearby apartment project is NOT a 55+ senior housing development, that claim has been proven false repeatedly through official records.

Clayton isn’t perfect, no town is. But reducing it to a narrative of division based on a handful of opinions does a disservice to the people who live here.

If you’re going to tell the story, tell all of it.

Correction & Clarification

Tamara Steiner is not affiliated with a current news outlet, her Clayton Pioneer Newspaper went broke months age, and the referenced apartment project is not a 55+ development.

— Clayton Watch
_________________________



Response from: Yadegaran, Jessica

Wed, Apr 1, 8:09 AM

Hi Clayton Watch,

Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I knew that the Pioneer shuttered in 2025. We forgot to add ‘now defunct’ or ‘recently shuttered’ there. I will make the correction today.

I will look into the housing project and look on Clayton Watch for the most recent articles. Feel free to forward to me as well. My interview with Jay Beddecarre and a few Mercury News articles confirmed that is was a retirement/senior housing community.

Thanks again

Jessica

Jessica Yadegaran

SFGATE Food Editor

From: Clayton Watch Team <claytonwatch94517@gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, March 31, 2026 7:43 PM
To: Yadegaran, Jessica <jessica.yadegaran@sfgate.com>
Subject: [EXT] Article (Clayton Club)

15 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. I didn't know they served food at the Clayton watering hole.

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    2. Jessica, stay in your lane before you get run over and put in your place.

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    3. Thank you Clayton Watch for pushing back. We're all tired of the media and all their bullshit stories. It’s about time someone called them out. Keep up the great work. Michel

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  2. Jay B has been drinking Tamara's punch for years.And now both of them have gone down with the ship. I'm so glad the Clayton Pioneer is gone.

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  3. It sounds like “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.” And Tamara was apparently asking for a favor owed to her from another crooked media person.

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  4. Is this the same Jay Beddecarre that went to Chico State? The one that talks a big story but knows nothing?

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    Replies
    1. A friend of mine knows Jay really well, and Jay told her that the Pioneer was going broke and hadn’t made money for several years. Our town is so much better off without the paper and its political and biased stories. So glad it’s gone. - A local realtor that wants to remain anonymous

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  5. Go Clayton Watch. You guys rock. From what I’ve read, you guys take no bull shit from anybody.

    You ask tough questions, push for transparency, and keep the spotlight on what matters in Clayton. Love them or hate them, they’re paying attention, and that matters.

    ReplyDelete
  6. In a nutshell: the article is interesting but not fully fair or balanced. It appears to push a negative narrative about Clayton while relying on selective sources and opinions, instead of sticking mainly to verified facts about why Clayton Club Saloon is closing. Nice try Tamara and Jay.

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  7. Who cares!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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    Replies
    1. People that love this town. People that want the truth.

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    2. People who love this town care.

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  8. Tamara lives in a simple world of hating anyone who doesn’t have her whacked out politics. Just spend a few minutes on her Facebook page and you will see she hates anyone who isn’t a woke progressive. She lives in such a bubble and claims the Olivia has divided us into red and blue. Maybe if she actually lived in Clayton she would know how many people with her politics oppose the Olivia. When all you do is surround yourself with people who think just like you, you can’t see there are others who think differently. Tamara will never accept the truth, her bias was so bad, it bankrupted her newspaper. Now all she lives for is to trash our town. She can’t even vote here yet she wants her friends on the council. We are approaching one year without her rag hitting our mailboxes and Clayton is better off as a result. Thank you Clayton Watch team for pointing out the truth.

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    Replies
    1. We checked out her Facebook page and you’re right, she is full of hate and evil. And to think that she had a local newspaper in our town. We’re so glad she’s gone. Becky and Marc, Keller Ridge

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Please keep your comments clear, concise, and appropriate for the discussion. Thank you