Letter to the UT Editor
Encinitas’ City Council did not act “foolishly” by refusing to
release their roads condition report (“Encinitas’ foolishness gets
proper rebuke,” Editorial, Jan. 14). Keeping documents from citizens has
allowed them to repeatedly deceive the public.
We tried hard to work with the city to release key reports. Most
people don’t persevere, so they ignored us. When we finally asked a
judge for help, the city did two things: they changed their
justification for secrecy and they played legal games, delaying and
driving up the cost. They originally claimed the document was a draft
document. In court, they changed their tune. They said it was better for
the public to not have access to the document.
Why the change? They had lied about the document being a draft. The
report had been completed, printed, dated and delivered months before I
requested it. The report states the city has underfunded road
maintenance by $17 million. That is a stark contrast to what the council
had been telling the public about infrastructure maintenance.
It is not foolish for a dishonest official to keep incriminating
documents secret. It was wrong. The city continues to hide public
records from the public. They know exactly what they are doing. – Kevin Cummins, Encinitas
Again, thank you Kevin for your energies that you offer to your community.
ReplyDeleteKeep it up>
What happened to the last post? It was a good one. All Stocks cronkies picked. Barely any residents. What gives?
ReplyDeleteOh, I'm sorry a post was removed. I also feel what the City has done, in not being open and honest with the public goes beyond foolish. To me, the actions taken have been intentionally deceptive, and therefore are malicious . . .
ReplyDeleteI'm also grateful for Kevin's energies and perseverance.