Open Government
CalAware Joins Chorus against Bailout Secrecy
Californians Aware is among 50 national and regional
organizations calling on the leadership of Congress's financial regulation committeeswith copies to all other lawmakersto avoid
exempting the Secretary of the Treasury from laws designed to allow
public scrutiny of governmental action as they consider enacting the
proposed $70 billion financial industry bailout legislation. The Senate letter to this effect,
sent today, concludes, Any genuine solution must be grounded in
transparency, with all relevant records publicly available and best
practice whistleblower protection for all employees connected with the
new law. Secrecy worsened this crisis, and taxpayers will not accept a
law for secret solutions. What happens to our money is our business.
Bond Oversight Board to Be Queried Privately
The Stockton Record reports
that auditors investigating San Joaquin Delta College's use of bond
money will do so privately, despite the objections of at least two of
the four members of a citizen oversight committee charged with
reviewing bond measure expenditures, producing an annual report and
informing the public. The audit was requested by a state senator after
a grand jury report asserted that Delta trustees wasted millions of
dollars in selecting a location for a new campus.
Berkeley Activists Unveil Sunshine Law Draft
The Berkeley Daily Planet reports
that a citizens group comprising political advocates, lawyers,
commissioners, a former Berkeley mayor and other Berkeley residents met
publicly for the first time September 9 to unveil their own draft
sunshine ordinance, created as an alternative to the former city
attorneys proposal, both of which promise more open government in the
city.
Bug Board Orders Probe of Reports Leak
The Desert Sun in Palm Springs reports
that, citing the need to protect the integrity of the board and its
closed sessions, Coachella Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District
trustees have voted to launch a probe into the leak of an investigative
report noting that its former general manager had complained of sexual
harassment by its former legal counsel.
Free Speech
Attorney: Courts Perverting Anti-SLAPP Law
Recent decisions by two California Courts of Appeal have turned Californias anti-SLAPP law into a legal Frankensteins monster, says a leading attorney specializing in open government law. In doing so, he argues, they have converted a law designed to protect the publics exercise of free speech and petition rights into a tool for government suppression of those rights.
Trustees Restrict Student Cellphone Uses
The Vallejo Times Herald reports that trustees of the Vallejo City Unified School District have adopted tough regulations governing cell phones, banning the use of camera phones and other electronic devices by students to record videos of schoolyard fights, prohibiting students from recording videos in rest rooms, locker rooms or other zones of presumed privacy, and requiring students to get permission from individuals before videotaping them on campus.
Church Members Get Tongue-Biting Tips
The Orange County Register reports that local church leaders went to a workshop recently where a lawyer coached them on how toor not toexpress political views in view of increased IRS scrutiny and their congregations potential loss of federal tax-free status.
Speech Not Free for Berkeley Tree-Sitters
The San Francisco Chronicle reports
that Berkeley's notorious tree-sitters have been hit with a rude
surprise since they came down to earth. Judges are socking them with
fines and legal fees that could total more than $10,000 per sitter,
much of it payable to the University of California, at which the
arboreal sit-in was directed in an effort to save a grove of trees from
removal to make way for an athletic center.
Whistleblowers
Oakland Council Offers Employee Shield
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Oakland city employees who report fraud, waste and abuse would be protected from retaliation under a new whistleblowers program approved by the City Council. Allegations of fraud and nepotism have prompted a federal criminal investigation of city hall.
Court: Air Marshal Unprotected in Leak
The Associated Press reports that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has ruled that the federal Department of Homeland Security lawfully fired an air marshal after he gave a reporter an embarrassing but routine memo on reducing hotel costs by eliminating overnight airline trips for marshals for a month. The air marshal said he leaked the memo after his boss ignored his safety concerns.
Public Information
Journalists Offer Political Research Guidance
The Greater Los Angeles chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists will this Saturday morning present "Follow the Documents," a workshop intended to help reporters sort through campaign finance records and other public documents, but open to the public for an $8 fee. Award-winning political reporter David Zahniser of the Los Angeles Times will teach the nuts and bolts to finding and understanding campaign finance reports, economic interest filings and other public documents.
Federal Electronic Records Blip into Oblivion
The New York Times reports that the National Archives is in the early stages of creating a permanent electronic record-keeping system with the help of the San Diego Supercomputer Center at the University of California, hoping to take in huge quantities of White House records when President Bush leaves office in January. But elsewhere in the federal domain, employees grappling with a staggering growth in electronic records do not regularly preserve the documents they create on government computers, send by e-mail and post on the Web.
Bar Exam Data Case Wont Start in High Court
The Recorder in San Francisco reports that if a UCLA law professor gains access to California Bar exam data for his own study on racial preferences, he'll have to start somewhere other than the California Supreme Court, which without getting to the merits has directed him to re-file in a lower court. Professor Richard Sander has been trying since 2006 to get the Bar's data to build on a 2004 study he did that suggested affirmative action might be responsible for black students' high bar failure rates nationwide.
Public Records Disclosed Reveal . . .
- that Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa spent most of his working day between May 21 and August 1 of this year flying in and out of town, holding staged press conferences, attending banquets, ceremonies and parties, raising political money and providing face time to high-powered special interest groups in a position to help his political advancement, as reported by L.A. Weekly;
- that the staff of San Diegos Southeastern Economic Development Corporation, a public agency, was able to pay itself more than $1 million in bonuses and other extra compensation last year while staying in budget by leaving key budgeted positions continually unfilled, as reported by Voice of San Diego.org;
- that problems afflicting the Riverside County Registrar of Voters office include inadequate security for ballots, voting machines and memory cards and a "lack of accountability" along the chain of custody, according to a report by a voting integrity watchdog group summarized in the Temecula Daily Californian; and
- the suffering experienced by a closely tethered female African elephant at Vallejos Marine World Africa USA theme park before being sold to a Utah zoo in 2005, where she died two weeks ago, as noted in the Vacaville Reporter.
Free Press
Judge Gags Paper from Reporting Testimony
The Orange County Register reports that the judge presiding in an impending class action suit against the newspaper brought by its delivery carriers has ordered the paper not to publish any testimony of witnesses in the proceedingan order immediately challenged to the California Court of Appeal as an unconstitutional prior restraint. The five-year-old case was brought by carriers who want to be treated as employees rather than independent contractors.
Chauncey Bailey Project Stays on the Case
PR Newswire reports that in the aftermath of the August 2007 murder of Chauncey Bailey, the first American journalist to be killed in the U.S. in 31 years while working on a story, an investigative team of Bay Area journalists has uncovered key facts about his murder and continued the investigation into possible criminal activities of the Your Black Muslim Bakery in Oakland.
Mayor Has Five Draft Paparazzi Ordinances
The Malibu Surfside News reports that despite repeated assertions by Malibus mayor that no new laws to restrict local paparazzi activities were being drafted, the texts of five ordinances that do just that are included in a one-foot-thick stack of documents compiled for her by faculty and staff at the Pepperdine School of Law. The Society of Professional Journalists has expressed concern.
St. Paul Drops Charges against Journalists
LATimes.com reports that dozens of journalists arrested on misdemeanor charges while reporting on protests outside of the Republican National Convention earlier this month will not be prosecuted, the mayor of St. Paul has announced. The city attorney has insisted, however, that the arrests of the journalists were not improper.
Open Meetings
D.A. Issues Warning on Use of Closed Session
The Pasadena Star-News reports that the Public Integrity Unit of the Los Angeles District Attorneys office has sent the Pasadena City Council a stern warning on its use of a closed personnel session to discuss whether council members would support a resolution to oppose the construction of an NFL stadium in the neighboring City of Industry.
Mayors Home-hosted Meeting on Tax Faulted
The Wave in Los Angeles reports that questions have been raised about the legality of a meeting that took place last week at the home of Mayor Maria Santillan where both supporters and undecided individuals came together to discuss the pros and cons of a proposed utility users tax on the November 4 ballot, and where two other City Council members were present, constituting a majority of that body.
Odd Label Used for Closed Session with Chief
The Sun in San Bernardino reports that the City Councils agenda-listed reason for a closed session discussion with the chief of a demoralized police department was to confer with the chief concerning the security of public buildings and citizens access to them.
Watchdog Thanked for Spotting Agenda Error
Writing in the Newsblog forum of the San Diego Union-Tribune, Matthew T. Hall reports that the city Planning Commission had to cancel a meeting after an alert resident pointed out that the agenda hadnt been posted far enough in advance in a place open to the public. It was the first time that had happened in the eight years Chairman Barry Schultz had served on the commission, but he thanked the citizen for her vigilance.
