Thread: MAYOR ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA REFUSES TO RELEASE PUBLIC INFO

Channel 4 News reported today that L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa refuses to turn over public records as requested. The news station again asked the Mayor for public information but his LAWYER refused. Below is the story when it was hot for a few days in July. It begs the question: why does he need a lawyer if it is public information? Does anyone know who to contact. Who would enforce a citizens right to public information.

http://www.knbc.com/politics/13690525/detail.html

KNBC Calls On Mayor Villaraigosa To Release E-Mails, Official Schedule

POSTED: 12:20 pm PDT July 16, 2007
UPDATED: 1:21 pm PDT July 18, 2007

LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's relationship with a television reporter is raising new questions about his conduct as it relates to city business, KNBC News reported.

Under California's Public Records Act, KNBC reporter Ana Garcia asked the mayor to show the station his e-mails and his official calendar.

But, according to Garcia, the mayor's attorneys refused to turn over most of the things the station requested.

Video

Following is a verbatim script from the on-air report.

Garcia: Antonio Villaraigosa is a mayor who has enjoyed the media spotlight until recent revelations of an extra-marital affair.

Villaraigosa: I have had a relationship with Ms. Salinas - over time it has evolved.

Garcia: The mayor and Telemundo news anchor Mirthala Salinas have admitted their affair went on for much of the time the mayor has been in office. Telemundo, Channel 52, is owned by NBC Universal.

A month ago, Channel 4 requested all of Villaraigosa's communications with his staff, e-mails, calendars, and travel expenses dating back to his first day in office.

Steve Levin, Center for Governmental Studies: The voters have every right to know what's going on at City Hall.

Garcia: Steve Levin is an attorney with the Center for Governmental Studies, a nonprofit think tank on political reform.

Levin: This is very much a case where the public life and personal life overlapped, and that could have affected his judgment.

Garcia: For example, in November of 2005, way before the affair was public, Villaraigosa was criticized for taking a corporate jet to Detroit for the funeral of civil rights icon Rosa Parks.

Villaraigosa: I am here today because there was a civil rights act.

Garcia: The jet was provided by Ameriquest, the mayor's former employer and generous donor. Ameriquest gave $100,000 to the mayor's inaugural bash.

The mayor's staff defended the "use of the private plane" because of "short notice" and reimbursed Ameriquest $438, the cost of an airline ticket.

But a look at his calendar for the night before the funeral shows the mayor was here in Burbank being interviewed live at Telemundo where Salinas worked, until 6:15.

The private jet his office said he needed to take wasn't departing from "Van Nuys until 11:30" that night.

So where was Villaraigosa for most of the night? Here at his Salinas' condo in Sherman Oaks, according to one of the residents.

Jean Rouda told the Los Angeles Times and confirmed to us on the phone she saw the mayor "carrying bags of take-out food and a bottle of wine."

At the time, the mayor's staff insisted "there wasn't time to book a commercial flight," even though according to the mayor's own calendar, we now know he was free from 6:15 on the eve of the funeral until 11 a.m. the next morning when the services began.

Levin: There is a credibility problem.

Garcia: Fast-forward a year to Villaraigosa's trip to New York in March of 2006 to look at public schools. Salinas covered the trip for Telemundo, along with other reporters from LA.

Garcia: This is the mayor's calendar, and the only TV station to get a one-on-one with the mayor in New York was his girlfriend.

Levin: He granted the interview to someone he was close with and that should be troubling to voters.

Garcia: By comparison, a review of the mayor's calendar shows I was given only 15 minutes to interview him about an alleged homegrown terror cell in LA that Channel 4 had uncovered.

Levin: The mayor and his staff are stonewalling the public on certain information

Garcia: The mayor's lawyers are refusing to turn over some records including e-mails.

The mayor's office says they won't give us these documents because it would reveal the mayor's decision-making process. Isn't that what we want to see?

Levin: That's the whole point.

Garcia: A similar request made to the previous mayor, Jim Hahn, resulted in all these documents being released to us. Compare that to what Villaraigosa has given us.

Levin: We want any mayor, whether it's Jim Hahn or Antonio Villaraigosa, to disclose their calendars and e-mails.

Garcia: The mayor's own Web site, invites you to e-mail him.

Garcia, typing: "Dear Mayor,"

Garcia: So we sent him a message asking why he won't release his e-mails -- I received a standard, automatic response.

We know the mayor has an active BlackBerry based on his bills. His city-issued phone shows more than 47,000 messages or kilobytes over a nine-month period. The phone company says without a more detailed bill, they can't tell us if those are emails.

Garcia: What does that tell you? Does that mean he e-mails?
Levin: Either that or he's checking sports scores.

Garcia: The mayor's attorney insists there are no e-mails to turn over, because the mayor does not e-mail.

Levin: There could be something in there he doesn't want the public to see.

Garcia: Attorneys on behalf of KNBC are arguing for the release of the e-mails and other documents.

Paul Moyer, KNBC News: The mayor's office says tonight the mayor uses his BlackBerry only to text and receive e-mails about his schedule. They say the private jet was necessary to accommodate others traveling to the funeral.

reconquista scum

so the freedom of information act does not apply to public officials now

Is this the way they do business in Mexico?

The proud mayor of LA talking to his constituents.

Originally Posted by Bulldogger

The proud mayor of LA talking to his constituents.

Is he trying to tell us California is in the toilet or maybe with any luck his career

Kiss that governorship GOOD BYE. Take your toilet brush and go home you'll need it for you new job.