Tonight’s Santa Ana City Council meeting is the second of the month – usually the second meetings are held offsite, at the Police Station’s community room, and are not televised. But here we are in election season again and sure enough tonight’s meeting has returned, like the proverbial swallow, to the Council Chambers. What’s up with that?
Clearly the members of the Santa Ana City Council and our erstwhile Mayor, Miguel Pulido, want more face time with the voters so now suddenly all the Council meetings are back at City Hall and back on T.V. The strategy may backfire however as the City Council is set to vote tonight on greatly expanding public employee benefits – just in time for the public employee unions to donate to Pulido and his chosen candidates and to walk precincts for them.
The obvious question is why aren’t all the City Council meetings televised – and more importantly in this Age of the Internet, why isn’t the resulting video footage made available on the City’s website? Clearly someone doesn’t want you to know what is going on.
That someone is Santa Ana City Manager Dave Ream. He hearkens back to a simpler time, when City Councils and City administrations could do as they pleased – before the Brown Act forced them to make their meetings public. Today Santa Ana is the largest West Coast city without a PIO – public information officer. Hmmm, I wonder why?
It is beyond time to put aside such ridiculous tendencies and open up City Hall to the residents of Santa Ana. Here’s how we can make our local government in Santa Ana more open and transparent, for the betterment of our people and our City:
- ALL our City Council meetings should be televised and they should all be held at Council Chambers.
- All of our City Council meeting video footage should not only be streamed live online but also archived online for future viewing. Our neighbors in Garden Grove and Costa Mesa already do this!
- All of our City Commission meetings should be moved to the evenings so members of the public may attend. And these meetings should also be videotaped, streamed and archived. Again, this is already happening in our neighboring cities.
- Santa Ana residents and businesspeople ought to be able to sign up online at our City website to receive all manner of City announcements regarding events, meetings, etc. And they ought to be able to sign up to receive meeting agendas and minutes too!
- Let’s also make it easier for residents to comment on City business – we ought to be able to email our comments regarding specific City Council agenda items to the City Clerk and have them presented to the City Council and added to the Council minutes. Many folks in our City are unable to attend meetings – but this way they could still add their two cent’s to the mix. Everyone deserves to be heard!
Santa Ana’s City government belongs to the people, not to Ream and his bureaucrats. It’s past time to put the people back at City Hall. In the stirring words of President Ronald Reagan, Mr. Ream – Tear down that Wall!
Great ideas, Art. I’m still going to do some research within the next week or so, on how Santa Ana, being an old-fashioned “charter city,” could become a “clean money city” like a few other cities have done. Then I’ll bring that to you, Michele and Lisann and see if you want to make it part of your platforms.
That reminds me, anyone heard from Lisann?? Did someone tell her to keep her distance from us?
you are very confusing. one blog you are with the workers and then on another you are against them. What kind of union member are you.
#2,
I’m sorry – I don’t understand your comment. How is calling for an open government an anti-labor position?
Good ideas Art. I dont understand Truthout’s comments either. Labor is in favor of open, transparent government. I find that the secretive Administrations are those that want to hide their heads in the sand about wrong doing by their management team or those that want to be secretive about what they are doing. Nothing could be further from the public’s interest.
This arrogant management style is a breeding ground for all sorts of problems like embezzlement, and incompetence (which costs taxpayers huge amounts, just look at SAUSD and Capo USD). Plus, studies have shown that it is less effective than an open, honest and fair approach that most public entities have adopted.
Problems like Russo, Olsky and Ream need to be dealt with swiftly and decisively by their bosses the elected governing boards or we the electors have got to elect new faces with the mandate to clean house. Wasting taxpayer money is a crime and Russo, Olsky and Ream are GUILTY!!
Throw the bums out!
Art, I think I know what #2 Truthout is referring to, something that disturbed me too – your post earlier today where you celebrated Grover Cleveland’s union busting. THAT sure sounded anti-labor.
Vern,
Actually, all I did was provide excerpts from an article about Cleveland – who by the way was a Democrat!
I am not reflexively anti-union, but I do think that it is awfully greedy for public employee unions to try to spike their pensions right now while so many Americans are suffering through the Bush depression…
I agree on all your points. Santa Ana city council is behind the technological times in all respects. Run a good campaign, get elected, and make it happen Art!!! But keep reminders of all you want to accomplish and/or change so that you don’t turn to the dark side, ie Pulido Vader.
Vern,
I am still here and no one has threatened me so far as I know? I am very concerned about open government. Did you see at the close of the Santa Ana council meeting the points that Michelle made and requested an opinion from Ream that left him speechless and stunned, or it may have been an Alzheimer’s moment. Then Claudia interrupted her about what direction the city was taking on the issues of increase in gang violence. Claudia basically told her that information was being leaked to the gangs and it was confidentiality that Mr. Walters not answer the question being asked of him. I believe that Michele was in all her rights to ask him that question and Claudia should have let him answer. That to me is not being open to the public.
I should have said that it was the city attorney’s job to tell Michele Martinez that it would be a breach of security or confidentiality, Claudia should have asked the opinion of the City Attorney if that question should be answered. Not give the advice as if she was the City Attorney.
Lisann, how is your campaign going?
Lisann
Claudia likes to play attorney.
Vote for Lisann Martinez Nov.4