|
City Hall Withholds Records
On Friday, city hall issued its answer. Administrators will release no records regarding the alleged illegal use of city property to interfere in a recall.
An article appeared on this blog’s Aug. 15 edition, summarizing a request for public information and the subsequent stonewalling by city officials: http://missionviejoca.org/News/2009_Q3/2009_08_15/article2/article2.html
The request for public records was made on July 9 following an incident involving City Manager Dennis Wilberg on July 8. Recall workers said Wilberg harassed them in front of the city library. Two female volunteers said they were asking Mission Viejo residents to sign the petition to recall Councilman Lance MacLean.
Throughout the recall signature drive, Wilberg and a few others, including MacLean, have either harassed volunteers or made threats of violence against those gathering signatures.
According to the workers, Wilberg on July 8 sat on a bench within a few feet of them in front of the library. They said he was watching them while he held what appeared to be a BlackBerry phone. The city issued a BlackBerry for his use in official city business.
From the Aug. 15 blog report: “As a city employee, Wilberg is prohibited from involving himself in a recall or an election. Any misuse of the city-provided BlackBerry phone raises further questions about misappropriation of public funds. Recall proponents on July 9 requested public records to document Wilberg's use of the phone and capture any text messages or recordings. Following is the response (or non-response) that proponents have thus far received from the city. If Wilberg has nothing to hide, why would the city staff need more than five weeks to find his phone records?”
Following are the emails from city hall.
From: Robert Schick
To: Lisa
Sent: Friday, August 28, 2009 3:55 PM
Subject: RE: Public Records Request from the City of Mission Viejo
Good afternoon,
This email is in response to your Public Records Request received in the City Clerk's office on July 9, 2009, concerning records pertaining to the use of City Manager Dennis Wilberg's cell phone on 7/8/09. It has been determined that there are no unprivileged public records that are responsive to the request.
Please let me know if you have any questions or if I may be of any other assistance.
Thank you,
Robert Schick
(949) 470-3034
From: Robert Schick
Sent: Friday, August 14, 2009 4:57 PM
To: 'Lisa'
Subject: RE: Public Records Request from the City of Mission Viejo
Good afternoon,
This email is in response to your Public Records Request received in the City Clerk's office on July 9, 2009, concerning records pertaining to the use of City Manager Dennis Wilberg's cell phone on 7/8/09. The City is currently reviewing and processing your request.
Pursuant to Government Code Section 6253(c), this email is to inform you that the City will respond to your request within fourteen days from the date of this email. A voluminous amount of separate and distinct records need to be searched and examined and multiple City departments may need to be consulted with in order to comply with the demands of your request.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions.
Thank you,
Robert Schick
(949) 470-3034
From: Robert Schick
Sent: Friday, July 31, 2009 2:07 PM
To: 'Lisa'
Subject: RE: Public Records Request from the City of Mission Viejo
Good afternoon,
This email is in response to your Public Records Request received in the City Clerk's office on July 9, 2009, concerning records pertaining to the use of City Manager Dennis Wilberg's cell phone on 7/8/09. The City is currently reviewing and processing your request.
Pursuant to Government Code Section 6253(c), this email is to inform you that the City will respond to your request within fourteen days from the date of this email. A voluminous amount of separate and distinct records need to be searched and examined and multiple City departments may need to be consulted with in order to comply with the demands of your request.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions.
Thank you,
Robert Schick
(949) 470-3034
From: Robert Schick
Sent: Friday, July 17, 2009 4:46 PM
To: 'Lisa'
Subject: Public Records Request from the City of Mission Viejo
Good afternoon,
This email is in response to your Public Records Request received in the City Clerk's office on July 9, 2009, concerning records pertaining to the use of City Manager Dennis Wilberg's cell phone on 7/8/09. The City is currently reviewing and processing your request.
Pursuant to Government Code Section 6253(c), this email is to inform you that the City will respond to your request within fourteen days from the date of this email. A voluminous amount of separate and distinct records need to be searched and examined and multiple City departments may need to be consulted with in order to comply with the demands of your request.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions.
Thank you,
Robert Schick
Records Management Coordinator
City of Mission Viejo
200 Civic Center
Mission Viejo, CA 92691
|
