Tonight is the the Public Safety Committee meeting for the Santa Ana City Council. The members are Claudia Alvarez, Sal Tinajero and David Benavides. You can read the agenda HERE. The meeting starts tonight at 5:30 P.m. and takes place at the Santa Ana Police Station, but NOT in the easily accessible Community Room where the Council meeting and Com Link is held but in the hard to find and sometimes inaccessible room on the 4th Floor of the headquarters.
There are some important items up for discussion, such as Day Laborers in the Kaiser Parking Lot, Gang Injunction Updates and the Swine Flu Vaccine Plan. Some pretty important stuff for everyday Santa Ana residents to know. But it is almost like they want to keep this meeting as secret as possible, holding it in the most obscure place possible. Now comes the kicker. You better get there before 6:00 P.m. Plan to leave early from work and hope there isn’t traffic because if you get there at 6:01 P.m., you will not be able to access the elevator to get to the meeting. That’s right folks, the police who staff the building leave for the day at 6:00 P.m. and do not allow anymore access to the 4th Floor, despite the fact that there is a public meeting being held there.
Some Santa Ana residents found out the hard way at the last meeting, and were not happy. Public Safety is one of the most important committees, it should be held at either the Council Chambers or the Community Room of the Police Station, not some obscure room on the 4th Floor. This once again demonstrates the contempt many on our City Council have for the public at large. If they really want to do the right thing, they will move the meeting to a room that is more accessible to the public, after all it is a public meeting. Please e-mail Claudia Alvarez, Sal Tinajero and David Benavides and let them know you want to have more public access to the Public Safety Committee meetings. I also encourage other city activists, especially those who run blogs that work to keep politicians on both sides of the aisle “honest” to join in this call for more open governance.
THE CITY OF SANTA ANA CODE OF ETHICS AND CONDUCT PREAMBLE
It is the intent of this code to achieve fair, ethical, and accountable local government for the City of Santa Ana. The people of Santa Ana expect public officials, both elected and appointed, to comply with both the letter and the spirit of the laws of the State of California, …
This is another example of the SA Council violating their own fraudulent “Code of Ethics.”
Well said Claudio.
And to add insult to injury, TWO well respected members of our community were indeed locked out tonight. They were unable to access the building.
The TWO upstanding leaders in our community had to call me and ask if I could get them in.
I went down to the lobby and let these two outstanding members of our community into what is supposed to be a PUBLIC meeting.
These two fine ladies came by to support a daytime youth curfew that was on the agenda, by was pulled by a certain councilman. But you won’t read that over at the “old joke” blog.
How many others were locked out and turned away is anyones guess.
Well said Claudio.
And to add insult to injury, TWO well respected members of our community were indeed locked out tonight. They were unable to access the building.
The TWO upstanding leaders in our community had to call me and ask if I could get them in.
I went down to the lobby and let these two outstanding members of our community into what is supposed to be a PUBLIC meeting.
These two fine ladies came by to support a daytime youth curfew that was on the agenda, by was pulled by a certain councilman. But you won’t read that over at the “old joke” blog.
How many others were locked out and turned away is anyones guess.
They also pull the same stunt with Planning Commission meetings. A meeting will start at 5:00 or 5:30 in the Ross Annex of City Hall – they lock the doors at 5:00.
There is supposed to be someone there to open the door for members of the public – but often that person is not there to open the door or guide the public to the meeting room.
This is a clear Brown Act violation. The problem with the Brown Act is that the public must sue the City through the courts for satisfaction – that is very expensive.