Costa Mesa’s Wendy Leece says when council members send and
receive text messages during meetings, it’s not only rude and
disruptive but could lead to violations of the state’s open
meetings law.
Mayor Tom Tait directed city officials to review the city’s
records policy after Voice of OC revealed orders to purge
records.
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Larry Mantle discusses email retention policies with CalAware
general counsel Terry Francke and Costa Mesa City Councilman Jim
Righeimer.
Tom Tait said the city is taking “corrective action” but insists
that the city’s records retention policy is “in accordance with
state laws.”
An email from city’s community preservation manager orders
employees to “not archive emails for any purpose.”
Policy tells employees to purge some records before they are old
enough to be legally destroyed. Orange County DA’s office calls on
employees to come forward with knowledge of illegal destruction of
records.
The California Public Records Act does not cover private
companies. This becomes a problem when a city outsources its
services, open-government advocates say.
A memo from a Planning Department official, which comes after a
Voice of OC records request, threatens disciplinary action if
“unnecessary” documents are found on employee computers or in
offices.
Mayor Mark Schwing told a speaker at this week’s City Council
meeting that he must give his name. Not so, says our First
Amendment expert.
This week, the City Council once again held a closed-door
meeting without first convening publicly, a requirement of state
law.
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