{"id":807,"date":"2009-10-08T13:21:35","date_gmt":"2009-10-08T13:21:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bluoz.com\/blog\/?p=807"},"modified":"2009-10-08T13:21:35","modified_gmt":"2009-10-08T13:21:35","slug":"Ethics-Commision-Sued-For-Concealing-Public-Records","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bluoz.com\/blog\/2009\/10\/08\/Ethics-Commision-Sued-For-Concealing-Public-Records\/","title":{"rendered":"Ethics Commision Sued For Concealing Public Records"},"content":{"rendered":"

FILED – Grossman Verified Complaint.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

Press Release: October 6, 2009
\nImmediate Press Inquiries, Contact: Allen Grossman 415-831-3720<\/p>\n

ETHICS COMMISSION SUED FOR CONCEALING PUBLIC RECORDS
\nREGARDING FAILURE TO ENFORCE SUNSHINE LAWS<\/p>\n

In a lawsuit filed Monday in the San Francisco Superior Court, Open Government advocate Allen
\nGrossman charges that the Ethics Commission suppressed public records relating to its consistent
\nfailure to enforce violations of state and local open government laws. These suppressed public records
\nwill likely establish that the Ethics Commission and its Executive Director, John St. Croix, had no
\njustification for their summary dismissal of every violation by City officials, including the Mayor and
\nthe City Attorney, of open government laws referred to the Ethics Commission by the Sunshine
\nOrdinance Task Force, a total of 14 such referrals over the past five years.<\/p>\n

Under the City\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Sunshine Ordinance, the Task Force decides whether such a violation exists and, if so,
\norders the official involved to disclose the public record. If the official refuses to comply with the
\ndisclosure Order, the Task Force refers the case to the Ethics Commission for enforcement. In more
\negregious cases, the Task Force also may find \u00e2\u20ac\u0153official misconduct\u00e2\u20ac\u009d by the official, a finding, which if
\nenforced, could result in the official\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s removal from office.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit alleges that the Ethics Commission itself is violating the California Public Records Act
\nand the City\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Sunshine Ordinance by illegally withholding the very public records that would shed
\nany light on its non-action in every one of the 14 Task Force referred cases, including those in which
\nthe Task Force found \u00e2\u20ac\u0153official misconduct.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

The Ethics Commission was created by a Charter Amendment passed by San Francisco voters in 1993
\nto enforce ethical standards of conduct in City Government. Similarly, in 1999 the voters
\noverwhelmingly approved a strengthened Sunshine Ordinance to give this City the strongest mandate
\nfor transparency in government in the State. Mr. Grossman stated when filing his lawsuit, “In the face
\nof the strong open government message delivered to the City government by the voters, the notion that
\nthe Ethics Commission exists as a sort of black hole of open government enforcement is simply not
\nacceptable. We have no idea how much secrecy in our City government has been fostered by the
\nEthics Commission\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s refusal to make even one example of a defiant official.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d These fourteen cases are
\nall of the referrals from 2004 to the present. In each there was neither enforcement nor an adequate
\njustification for its absence. “These are not technical violations.” Grossman said, “This is an assault on
\nthe public’s right to know.”<\/p>\n

According to Kimo Crossman, a leader in open government advocacy and founder of the Sunshine
\nPosse, “The Ethics Commission has been a major disgrace by failing to act on even one violation,
\nincluding some of those violations that the Task Force found to be flagrant and willful. The result has
\nbeen that the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force has been effectively handcuffed, although the Ethics
\nCommission was created to make enforcement possible to promote ethical government.” Some current
\nand former members of the Task Force have also expressed their concern that this unbroken pattern of
\nunjustified dismissals has weakened the Task Force and the cause of open government in the City.
\nA hearing on Mr. Grossman\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Petition is scheduled for November [12]. 2009. Under State law, these
\npublic records petitions are given expedited treatment and, if successful, the petitioner is awarded
\nattorneys fees.<\/p>\n

Judy Alexander, Esq. and Gregory P. O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Hara, Esq. of Nixon Peabody LLP\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Palo Alto Office represent
\nMr. Grossman.<\/p>\n

For further information, please contact Mr. Grossman at (415) 831-3720.
\n>
\n> Case No. CPF-09-509868
\n> Department: 302
\n> Hearing Date: Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at 9:30am
\n> Judge: Charlotte Woolard
\n> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FILED – Grossman Verified Complaint.pdf Press Release: October 6, 2009 Immediate Press Inquiries, Contact: Allen Grossman 415-831-3720 ETHICS COMMISSION SUED FOR CONCEALING PUBLIC RECORDS REGARDING …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[25],"class_list":["post-807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-SF-politics","tag-sf-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bluoz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bluoz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bluoz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bluoz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bluoz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=807"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bluoz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bluoz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bluoz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bluoz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}