Got a funny call at home this weekend from an advertiser who told me there was a mistake with her ad in Saturday's paper, and she was sure I would have caught it, being the editor and all.
I explained that editors are responsible for what's in the news pages, not the ads, and then my husband (the publisher), intervened and whispered, "Tell her, we'll refund her money for the ad."
Now comes the funny part. I told her about the refund, and here's her response:
"Just get that Suzanne Tucker to give up her e-mails, and you can keep your 273 bucks."
Of course, it's probably going to cost us more than that, if we have to take Vice Mayor Tucker to court to get her to give up her e-mails written to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory regarding a proposed bio-agent laboratory a mile from Tracy.
We've asked her, informally and formally, for the e-mails, buoyed by our belief that we have the law on our side. The California Public Records Act, for one, requires “writing containing information relating to the conduct of the public’s business prepared, owned, used or retained by any state or local agency” be made public no more than 10 days after it is requested.
The California Constitution also includes a section that reads, “the writings of public officials … shall be open to public scrutiny.”
In case you've missed our stories about Tucker and her elusive e-mail, here's the latest story.
As always, feel free to comment.
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3 comments:
As a new business owner in town, I will pledge to increase my ad spending in the Tracy Press if we can all read Ms Tucker's emails in the paper!
Three resources you should consider
here:
1) CA Attorney General Opinion has already addressed email issues and makes no distinction between personal addresses and computers - it's public business!
2) California First Amendment Coalition @ www.cfac.org - a wealth of information and resources
3) Californian's Aware @ www.calaware.org - another source
I have to wonder if the Tracy Press will stand their ground - this may be an end to the backroom activity that we've been putting up with for so many years.
Tucker's gotta know she's breaking the law. Is she getting her marching orders from the City Attorney? Maybe thats whose got to go.
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