The mayor is hiding something--a Brown Act violation maybe?

We are surprised and outraged that the Pleasanton City Council and professional bureaucracy is claiming Deliberative Process privilege when refusing to completely disclose city-paid cell phone records of the mayor and four city counselors. Oh, they provided the records (paper) to fulfill their oft-used claim to transparency. However, the persons to whom the calls were made have been redacted. All of the calls have been redacted.

We are following up on this issue and the mayor’s illegal use of her city-owned e-mail account because there is, at the very least, the appearance of impropriety. (Mayor Jennifer Hosterman admitted using her city-owned e-mail account to solicit campaign contributions during the last election cycle.)

It would be of great interest to the public to know if the mayor continues to use her city-owned communication accounts to conduct campaign activities. The public might also want to know if she is communicating with lobbyists or special interest or pressure groups. The public just might just be interested to know if the mayor uses her city-sponsored phone for personal calls.

Because the city has violated the Brown Act in the recent past, (conducting city business without proper public notification and input) the redacted telephone calls might show continued abuse. For instance if three of the five council members communicate on any issue without proper public notifications, they have violated the Brown Act. Comparing the mayor’s calls with the calls of the other four counselors (allies Matt Sullivan and newly elected Cheryl Cook-Kallio or the unlikely Jerry Thorne and Vice Mayor Cindy McGovern) would prove no violation.

The fact that the Deliberative Process privilege is actually used is of great concern to California First Amendment Coalition and to those who support the Freedom of Information act. Former governor George Deukmejian used the Deliberative Process privilege to avoid disclosing his calendar of business meetings. The Supreme Court agreed and the ability to avoid full disclosure was born. It is used mostly by obscure political figures. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger regularly discloses his calendar.

News Opinion

 

CATV needs a board of directors without city ties

It is just Community Access TV but should the city governments who sponsor CATV be sitting on the board of directors?

We think not. There is absolutely no reason that the four city governments could not supply a private, non-partisan board of directors with the direction and resources for the board to make fiscal decisions (how to make up the shortfall brought about by defectors leaving Comcast for satellite TV). It is too tempting for the government directors to make decisions regarding news programming, commentary, and public meeting broadcasts. With Mayor Jennifer Hosterman under suspicion for using her city-sponsored communications accounts for personal campaign use, it is not the time to entrust CATV to her or her political allies.

Finally, National Public Radio (NPR) has turned into a public relations arm of the Democrat party and that is reason enough for CATV to remain autonomous.

Are the O-zone worshippers showing their anti-religious side?

Are the eco-extremists, that elect the likes of Mayor Jennifer Hosterman and Counselor Matt Sullivan, becoming anti-religion with their regular objections to expanding churches and church facilities of a growing religious population?

Is it possible that these socialists are replacing their religious tolerance with environmental activism? Or, are these intolerant socialists really Communists or Fascists who object to any religion other than the one practiced at the environmental alter?

Sure, expanding churches will cause more traffic—one or two times a week when most neighbors are sleeping. So what?

Guest Opinion

 

Mayor Hosterman is less than perfect

Audrey DeHart, in her May 4 letter to the Pleasanton Weekly, has it right about Mayor Jennifer Hosterman. She is non-responsive if queries do not fall in line with her agenda. Ms. DeHart in January and February wanted to know about Ms. Hosterman’s position on global warming--an election issue she frequently discussed. Ms. Hosterman was studying and then taking the Bar exam and failed to have the staff respond for her—a simple management task.

Ms. Hosterman has had such difficulty in the past. Perhaps she is not the most intelligent woman in the world second to Hillary.

Norman tops himself with war letter

The only reason we read Fred Norman letters (Pleasanton Weekly May 4) is to see how ridiculous he sounds. We thought he could not top himself with his last letter regarding the Iraq war. But, he has done it. “Sacrifices to the imperial gods of oil and political power”? Please Mr. Norman, just stop it. Next, you will be claiming that 600,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed and that the Jews arranged the World Trade Center terrorism. People jumping to their deaths from the WTC and the various beheadings on any number of Websites should be enough for any reasonable person to know that we have enemies who want to kill us. We must protect ourselves against an avowed enemy—no matter the tragic cost.

Kenyon is shown for what she is

Ted Tully has it right in his May 3 Independent letter to the editor. He takes Paulette Kenyon to task for fuzzy thinking and radical rhetoric. While he takes Ms. Kenyon to task with facts about our fanatical enemies, the most important comment Mr. Tully made was to show that it is the leftists (including environmental extremists) who are the fascists.

 

 

 

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