By Emerson Drake
8/6/10
Don’t ever say a determined individual or group of individuals can’t make a difference.
Making a solid decision that will benefit all of the citizens of Modesto, the Modesto City Council changed its mind and decided to stop stonewalling and grant a public information request for emails between City Council members.
They denied this same request which was made over a month and then amended by email several weeks ago.
Asking the question in front of an audience and requiring them to respond in the light of day, well during a city council meeting, just might have made the difference.
Mayor Ridenour first makes the claim he’s never written an email to the council but has that statement overturned by Garrad Marsh’s comments.
Pay attention where Councilman Lopez makes an exaggerated claim which isn’t substantiated during the verbal exchange.As a point of interest Lopez makes the statement he’s never written an email to a fellow councilperson.
I wonder if he knows how?Another point of interest is listening to the recount how seldom the email each other just so they can avoid Brown Act violations. Then in the next breath they comment on the conversations they have with each other away from the public.
To watch and listen to the entire exchange go to http://www.modestogov.com/sirepub/mtgviewer.aspx?meetid=229&doctype=AGENDA
Adjust the viewer’s time slide to 8min. 45sec. for the complete conversation.
