Originally posted on June 5, 2008.
As you know, the Ruston council has had a measure placed on the ballot for August that would change our form of government from a strong mayor to a council-manager format. Last week, at the direction of Council Member Hunt, I was contacted to write the opposing statement for this proposal for the Voters Pamphlet, which was due by the end that day. I was later informed that no statements would be needed. What I was supposed to understand was that Ruston would not be officially setting up committees to write these statements. Such is life in our politically charged little town.
I did some research yesterday and sent an email to our council members based on the information I had received from the elections office. Since it appears there will be no formal committee appointed by the Town, I will head up an effort to write an opposing statement by next Monday, June. 9th. Please contact me with any input you may have at kpickett22@yahoo.com.
I thought you might like to see the email exchange with Council Member Hunt. I have listed the exchange in chronological order here. ~ Karen
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UPDATE, June 10, 2008: Council Member Hunt contacted me tonight to demand that I remove these emails because I used her personal email address to make my inquiry. Although she was clearly acting in her capacity as a public official (signing the email as "Council Member Jane Hunt"), I have decided to honor her demand until I can more fully explore my legal options. Thanks for your patience as we sort this all out.
Karen
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13 comments:
Gosh girls! Now that all the RC buddies are in place what's the point?
Interesting accusations in the last communication from councilwoman Hunt. We often look for faults in others that we see most clearly in ourselves.
I can not believe the amount of vemon in the councilwoman's posts. I thought that elected officials were supposed to be impartial and treat all citizens with respect. No wonder there has been so much turmoil in town. Additionaly, grammer is a wonderful thing and maybe she should pick up a book on the subject at her local library. Good luck Ruston it sounds like you are going to need it.
Jane are you really as full of hate and meaness as you are displaying here? You need to chill girlfriend! It's really not that hard to look for the good in people. I have to believe you're just having a bad day.
Why would we want this council to hire a manager and change our form of government when they seem to show such anamosity towards public opinion. We would be crazy to give that last bit of power to wield without balance between the two branches of government. I guess I just don't understand....
watching from afar... it seems these two just don't get along. Noting Karen certainly has more grace and professionalism than Jane, I would think that Karen is the one on Council and Jane is the disgruntled, accusatory, bitter town citizen that the council wants to hush up - Wait a minute.... Jane, wasn't that you 3 years ago, too? Huh, seems all that has changed is what side of the table you are sitting on. Jane will be Jane.
Nasty, nasty people, nasty as they come. Maybe someone will come up with a cure for bile? Or is it gout. Mean pills anyone?
Four out of five flocking together? That is quite a coincidence!
Who knew that Ruston officials had official town email addresses? Council Member Jane Crock Hunt's private email address was the only way to contact her until VERY recently. Karen, if Jane was acting in her official capacity then those emails would be considered public documents, right?
As far as I know, any entity (i.e., Rustonconnection.org) can get a dot.org website/email address. I do not know of any authentic government entity that uses a dot.org address. Does anyone out there know anything more about this? Is the TownofRuston.org a subsidiary of the Rustonconnection.org?
Usually towns, cities, et al, use .gov
.gov is being used less. There is cityoftacoma.org; metroparkstacoma.org Pierce County even has a .org (can't think of the correct address at the moment).
According to the General Principles (City of Tacoma's E-Mail Policy) "All e-mail messages are considered to be public records and the public has the right to examine public records. Therefore, if you are concerned about public disclosure or internal disclosure, e-mail should not be used as a communication tool.
Confidential and sensitive issues such as performance reviews, disciplinary actions, and similar information should not be communicated via e-mail. If a communication must be private, use interoffice mail and mark it "personal and confidential." E-Mail may be used to communicate with the City’s Legal staff, but should be marked as a "Confidential and Privileged Attorney Client Communication" or "Attorney Work Product", as appropriate. If you are in doubt check with Legal or do not use E-Mail." reference- http://www.mrsc.org/govdocs/t3-emai.aspx
In Arizona, all emails by public officials and employees must be submitted to the Town or City clerk as public records that are kept for 6 months. You can refer to this on page 2, it is the minutes from a Clarksdale,AZ city council meeting- http://www.clarkdale.az.us/archived_meetings/2004meetings/06-15-04spminutes.pdf
I would recommend re-posting what Councilmember Hunt said in her emails. She was acting as a public official and what she shared can be public information, it doesn't matter what email address it came from because townofruston.org isn't even a real website, they just bought a domain name on godaddy.com. The town council is comprised of some smart, sneaky and slick individuals who may be facing legal action in the fall when the state does an audit do to there complete lack of public disclosure, continued denial of direct conflicts of interest and since the town council fired legal council, they may be in trouble. In a possible conflict of interest situation, the council member should consult with the town's Attorney before the issue is presented so they can issue a written opinion on it which therefore protect the council member personally. Who is excited for the audit?
I am, I am. :-)
If you go to this website you will see that this address was registered by the Law Enforcement Support Agency (LESA). http://who.godaddy.com/WhoIsVerify.aspx?domain=townofruston.org&prog_id=godaddy
You'll recall this was part of a package the police chief presented to the council which they approved.
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