A Step In The Right Direction

Tonight, the Public Ethics Commission considered the complaint I filed regarding 13 separate violations of the California Public Records Act, all within the last year or so. I am happy to report that the PEC, as well the speakers on the issue, all sympathized with my frustration at the City's abysmal track record on legal compliance issues. The PEC agreed to refer the matter to mediation, as I had requested.

Several of the speakers related stories of their own experiences with the City failing to produce responsive records, failing to produce the records in a timely manner, or outright destroying records. It's about time the negligence (or possibly even corruption) come to a halt. I promise to work together with City officials (assuming that they will work with me) to develop policies, procedures, training, tracking methods, whatever it takes, to ensure legal compliance. And, by the way, I'm not running for public office. I just want the City to clean up its act.

I'm hoping the City shares that commitment. Gotta say, though, I am not convinced. The City Attorney's representative, Mark Morodomi, got up and clarified that he was speaking on behalf of "the City Attorney's office only." He wasn't going to offer any apologies, excuses or defenses for the lame department heads who somehow can't manage to respond to an agressive litigator's public records requests in a timely manner. No respresentative for the "City" showed up to offer a defense or explanation. Is that bizarre or what? At any rate, I'm going to try to drag whoever is in charge of this pathetic City government, kicking and screaming if I have to, to the mediation table to make sure they comply with the law. How much more public humiliation will be necessary for them to realize that fighting against someone exercising a clear, constitutional right is a losing battle?

By the way, want to know how much of your hard earned tax dollars are being spent to fight against the public's clear legal rights? I did a public records request, as a follow up to a request made at the MYOC, for billing records indicating how much the City has spent fighting my Measure Y battle to date. The grand total is 1443 hours. I estimate that's essentially one attorney's full time job for a full year, or around $200,000, including salary and benefits. In actual attorney time, billing at $200 per hour, it's closer to $300,000 (oh, and $200 is actually really cheap. They claim they pay their outside lawyers closer to $300 an hour). You should also know that to the extent somebody sues a public entity and wins this kind of case, they are entitled to their attorney fees as well. The City so far is claiming to that to the extent I am representing myself, they don't have to pay me (we'll see about that), but I've had another lawyer helping me for nearly a year now, and they definitely are on the hook for his time. Your tax dollars at work.