September 25, 2013 After we saw the comment that Rebecca Callen had made on the article about the Calaveras Board of Supervisors fighting and not passing a budget yesterday.
Since her comment was about the public having access to any document at the county, we had to call her office to make her aware that isn't true.
She was very forthcoming and stated that her office holds with that policy. I asked her if she was aware that NO OTHER county office is that way.
They keep their secrets close and refuse to share with the public unless forced. I went on to explain that because we have the Sierra Sentinel, we call or email for documents regularly.
A few months ago, we requested documents from the Sheriff. It took 5 months before we got anything. They charged us $70 some dollars and then could not account for that money. "We never track that" they said after.
Do they lie at the County? Do they cover? Do they rewrite documents? Do they edit tapes. OMG!!
Two weeks ago we requested emails, texts and any other documents in planning sent or received regarding the Crazy Horse Project. They want over $100 for their time.
What happened. We tried to go through County Counsel, since we are aware how they hide everything.
They immediately got County Counsel to stall telling them them not to respond for the 10 days allowed by law under the California Public Records act.
They were extremely upset that we wanted all of Rebecca Willis' emails regarding Pool Station Road or this project, and especially those deleted.
Transparency, NO WAY! And the corruption in the Grand Jury responses was enough to turn anyone's stomach. But all 5 passed them and hid the dirty truth from the voters. When we mentioned this to Rebecca, she said that she knew about that.
We asked them to check the new laws and be sure they are allowed to charge that much money for information that should be available to the public. Now, NOTHING!!!
We are sure that the person they put in charge of this has been busy taking care of their problem, so that no newspaper will know what they are really up to.
And so the corruption in Calaveras County continues! We thank Rebecca Callen for running her department with honesty to the public.
1 comment:
Sierra Sentinel, you've confused me. Please clarify, you're asking for printed copies of information? Unless there's been a change, the law allows the agency to charge for the print information and allows for a waiving of fees(not gonna happen).
Have you expressed you want to review the documents in the agency's office and you will take pictures or transcribe the information? The agency cannot charge for locating the information and providing your in house inspection(that is, if the law hasn't been changed).
The famous gentleman known as "ROOSTER MAN" did that quite effectively. Contact him, maybe he can give some ideas or help.
I too, thank you, Auditor-Controller Rebecca Callen.
Post a Comment