HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-07-2012 ac nardiWalnut Celek Council members say they aren't getting their mail 212/12 10 :28 A M
From:dvavrek <dvavrek@sbcglobal . net>
To: barascharc <barascharc@aol .com>
Subject : Walnut Creek Council members say they aren't getting their mai l
Date :Thu, Feb 2,2012 10:12 a m
Steve, here's the article I mentioned .D
Walnut Creek Council members say they aren't
getting their email ',v
By Elisabeth Nard i
Contra Costa Time s
Posted : 11/30/2011 01 :00 :27 PM PS T
Updated : 12/01/2011 02 :47 :26 PM PST
WALNUT CREEK -- It's usually the press or the public calling out government agencies for not bein g
transparent . But Tuesday night, Councilwoman Kristina Lawson blasted the way the city is handling electe d
officials' mail from residents .
Lawson said she has not been getting mail addressed to her until weeks -- sometimes months -- after th e
mail was sent, if at all .
"That seems to be a completely unacceptable way for elected officials to do business," Lawson said at a
special city council meeting . "From the time I was elected, I in fact believed, and the public believes, I wa s
receiving mail that was addressed to me ."
She specifically pointed to an example recently in which the entire council was addressed in e-mails from
residents concerned about school unification . Lawson said she had just received those e-mails, which ha d
been sent in October.
Mayor Pro Tern Bob Simmons said he had been at the Farmer's Market recently where someone told hi m
they had just e-mailed the council about something, and he had no idea what that person was referring to .
Further,if something is addressed to the mayor and council there is no guarantee that the entire council will
or has ever seen the correspondence, said Lawson .
Currently, if city staff gets individually addressed items, they go directly to the person addressed.When
mail comes in addressed to the mayor and all council members, the mayor and city staff write a response (i f
one is warranted) then send it to the resident . After that, all council members should be given a copy of the
original correspondence and the mayor's response .
But Lawson argued that protocol goes against the council's current rules . But new rules drafted by city staf f
would make that practice the new normal, something Lawson and others council members are no t
comfortable with .
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Walnut Cr9ek Council members say they aren't getting their mail 2/2/12 10 :28 A M
Councilman Kish Rajan suggested that, especially with e-mail correspondence, it gets passed to the counci l
immediately and flagged that the mayor will respond ,
"It's the correct thing to do," he said .
City Manager Ken Nordhoff said the system needs to be reworked, and that the handling of mail will b e
fixed. The council needs to "feel satisfied that you are getting the correspondence," he said .
But there seems to be other e-mail issues as well . Lawson and others at Tuesday's meeting pointed out that
if someone goes to the city website and wants to e-mail an individual council member, that it isn't possible .
The site only allows e-mail comments to go to mayor@walnut-creek .org;to reach other city counci l
members, the site directs users to call the city manager's office. There is no indication that all counci l
members have city e-mail addresses, which in fact they all do .
"It should not be the case that correspondence is held because on our website there is only one person t o
send it to," Lawson said .
In Walnut Creek, the mayor's position is not elected but instead is an appointed one-year term by the rest o f
the council, with members serving on a rotating basis .
The issue of mail, both electronic and regular, came up as part of a discussion on revamping the council's
Rules and Procedures . This document governs everything from the election of the mayor and mayor pro te m
to how a counci lmember gets an item on a meeting agenda .
While there was no agenda report for the discussion on rule changes, copies of the current rules an d
proposed rule changes were made available at the meeting. The new rules and procedures will come back
before the City Council for approval .
Contact Elisabeth Nardi at 925-952-2617 . Follow her at Twitter .com/enardilO .
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