Deborah Andrea is the best in fulfilling public information requests. However, to get anyone at city hall to act on any other request that might have to go to a staff member to respond, is sometimes like pulling teeth...think Utility. There are some exceptions to this--Steve Carr was the absolute best at answering questions and he is virtually gone with his last day on January 4. He will be missed. You can also count on others such as William Waters to answer questions as well as our former Code Enforcement Manager, Raquel Diaz. She is also missed.
And then there's our top administrator along with our legal eagles who are delightful people but to get anything answered?..they honestly do not believe that they have to bother answering a question from Joe Public..too busy, I guess. They answer to the commission and the commission never really answers the public directly on anything. Cute trick and they are getting away with it. What's even worse than that--Joe Public is allowing it.
As we no longer get any city manager weekly report or any report even at city commission meetings (although there is always a place on the agenda for it), and we seldom get a report from the city attorney, the public is being kept in the dark by the only ones who should have the answers to certain questions. They are treating public information on a "need to know" with them calling the shots.
Case in point:
On January 7 there is a behind closed doors meeting that the city will have on two legal cases and then go over all the litigation matters. There was back-up to this. Someone removed it. Now I can't get it. Why not? This is all public information. The only thing that is not public is what they discuss or what decisions they make on these legal matters while they are open cases. There are tons of cases and now they don't want us to know about them.
City Commission - 2014
January 7, 2014--Minutes--Agenda & Staff Reports -- Full Version
All the crazy stuff and give-aways of public property have been well planned in advance. You would think that the commission ran on the slogan, "We need change" but who would have suspected the outcome? Take the cutting down of the 75 year-old Banyan tree at the Cultural Plaza. They said, "oh, that was a mistake." There is no way that anyone would believe that was accidental...but they want you to. The tree has now been replaced by the look-alike FAO Schwarz bear, getting ready for our historical City Annex to become an arts center.
All the crazy stuff and give-aways of public property have been well planned in advance. You would think that the commission ran on the slogan, "We need change" but who would have suspected the outcome? Take the cutting down of the 75 year-old Banyan tree at the Cultural Plaza. They said, "oh, that was a mistake." There is no way that anyone would believe that was accidental...but they want you to. The tree has now been replaced by the look-alike FAO Schwarz bear, getting ready for our historical City Annex to become an arts center.
Complain to the state. BY LAW, they must give you the info. if you want to screw around with Pam Lopez and her bosses, if you want to bang your head against a wall, then be my guest.
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