HOW THE CITY OF LA MESA GAMES THE SYSTEM - PART 2

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By Joseph Glidden

 

How the City Games the System to Keep Its Residents Uninformed, Unengaged, and Uninspired.

April 11, 2017 (La Mesa)--The Strategic Planning Workshop is arguably the city council’s most important public meeting of the year. Police, Fire and city employees are always well represented, but few residents are in attendance. The city does little to promote civic engagement. If anything, it actively discourages community involvement in the following ways:

1. The workshop is not properly noticed in accordance with the Brown Act. The law requires that the agenda be posted at least 72 hours before meetings are scheduled to begin, and in a location that is “freely accessible” to members of the public. This is not the case in La Mesa.

2. The workshop is poorly advertised and promoted. It gets scant mention at city council meetings, but is not listed on the city’s website calendar. There is no signage outside the venue in the days preceding the event. 

3. The workshop is held on a weekday, when most residents are at work.

4. The workshop is held in the Emergency Operations Center, one of the city’s smallest venues with a maximum occupancy capacity of 77 persons.

5. Unlike city council meetings, the workshop is not broadcast on Cox Cable Channel 24. Residents are not able to view the proceedings remotely in real time.

6. The session is not videotaped. Residents are unable to purchase a DVD copy from the city as they are city council meetings.

7.  The proceedings are not available for viewing on the city’s website.

8.  An audio tape is the only live record of the 8 hour proceedings. Audio recording of past events have sounded more like an FBI wiretaps between Tony Soprano and Paulie Walnuts than the official record of  a government meeting.

The La Mesa City Council talks a great deal about transparency, accountability, and open government, but when it has the chance to back up those words with actions, it once again pays only lip service to its lofty ideals.

The opinions in this editorial reflect the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of East County Magazine. To submit an editorial for consideration, contact editor@eastcountymagazine.org.

 

 

 

 



 



 


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