One Problem With The "Training" of Elected Officials

[Brian Essi]

Here are a few public records that I received in October, 2016 concerning "public records training" of our elected officials that is mandated by law:

IMG_1245.JPG (86.03 KiB) Viewed 3974 times

Butler Takes Records Training For Others.pdf

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The problem with our city government representatives is that they have NO training in what is considered ethical in local government. This is not just a problem, this is a HUGE problem. They don't understand sunshine laws, they don't understand executive session, etc.

We have the same civic-minded people in governing positions. They have always meant well. They've meant no harm. They just blew it. We haven't had people to challenge them in elections. We've blown that.

Offended. Shocked. Horrified. My take is that they want to garner this normal human sympathy while they act against the best interests of the community. I'm not willing to cut them the slack that they appear to want. To me it's a tool that they use. And I'll bet that Summers did not change his behavior as a result of that feedback.

Respectfully, to me it's not training. They should have a core approach of "doing the right thing" and you don't need training for that. Too many people acting with great intention, to then claim that it's the lack of a training seminar with a bunch of reading and Powerpoint slides. Training won't do anything when they lack the attitude, or are opposed to the premise of the training. Witness tabling the new City Charter, cutting records retention, acting with obvious ethical conflicts, refusing to provide records, repeated violations of open meetings, conflicted hiring, and on and on.

I don't buy that they mean well. Not at all.

So we have a Law Director/Records Custodial who might be characterized as a serial abuser of public records requirements.

The Law Director encourages new and seasoned elected officials to designate him take required training for the elected officials' obligations concerning public records.

And then the Law Director "educates" the elected officials as to their duties.

It all may be "legal", but does anyone see a pattern of control of information here?

Huh?

Hmmm

(my apologies to Steve Davis for habitually plagiarizing his Huh? & Hmmm quotes)

[Jim O'Bryan]

[quote="Brian Essi"]Here are a few public records that I received in October, 2016 concerning "public records training" of our elected officials that is mandated by law:

IMG_1245.JPG

Butler Takes Records Training For Others.pdf

It is amazing how many people, groups and businesses get harassed for merely asking City Hall to be honest, and transparent.

Let's not forget this group desperately moving to delete public records after 2 years instead of 3. Hard drives and cloud space cheaper then ever, but the City Hall that can spend over $1 million spinning lies and misinformation can't afford $125 for a new hard drive!

.

[Jim O'Bryan]

It is amazing how many people, groups and businesses get harassed for merely asking City Hall to be honest, and transparent.

Let's not forget this group desperately moving to delete public records after 2 years instead of 3. Hard drives and cloud space cheaper then ever, but the City Hall that can spend over $1 million spinning lies and misinformation can't afford $125 for a new hard drive!

.

[Mark Kindt]

These are basic and fundamental problems that need to be corrected:

1. No formal written ethics-in-government policy for the city;

2. No formal training on ethics-in-government for the city;

3. No formal training in the basics of Ohio's Sunshine Laws;

4. A records-retention policy that is unbelievably short for a unit of government;

5. Documented conflicts of interests;

6. A false affidavit filed in a state court.

Each citizen should be deeply concerned about these and other issues that have been the subject of civic journalism in the Lakewood Observer.

[Lori Allen _]

Agreed.

Personnel files - shredded after two years. The only portions kept are the employment card, salary history, and any resignation letter.

Minor-misdemeanor criminal case files - shredded after 6 months.

Criminal nuisance activity documents - shredded after two years.

Mayoral proclamations - shredded after two years.

Mayoral speeches - shredded after three years.

Animal complaints, adoptions, etc. - shredded after two years.

Police incident reports - shredded after three years.

Requests for public records - shredded after two years.

Employee injury reports - shredded after two years.

The list goes on. Why? You can buy an 8-terrabyte hard drive online for $289. That's a huge amount of space. Some of these records that are being shredded might be needed one day. Injury reports, police reports, and the list goes on. No wonder I keep seeing Shred-It trucks all around town. They had to hire an outside company, as it was just too much.

Of course, I'm sure Judge John P. O'Donnell instructed the defendants not to shred anything that may pertain to the hospital case, right?

[Mark Kindt]

If anyone has a copy of the retention policy, please post it here.

If anyone has a copy of any "litigation hold" policy, please post it here. By "litigation hold", I mean any policy that would require the city to retain documents related to a lawsuit brought against it.

Somebody might want to donate the following book to the city by prominent local lawyers:

"Spoliation of Evidence" by Margaret M. Koesel & Tracey L. Turnbull.

[Lori Allen _]

See below for the records retention schedule:

If anyone can interpret the signature of the person from the Ohio Auditor of State, please let me know. The first name looks like Martin but I can't make out the last name. The person from the Ohio Historical Society looks like Connie Conner.

Lakewood Records Retention Schedules.pdf

(3.05 MiB) Downloaded 165 times

[Bridget Conant]

So Butler took a class "representing" for 11 city people.

Isn't he amazing? What can't that man do?

[Brian Essi]

So Butler took a class "representing" for 11 city people.

Isn't he amazing? What can't that man do?

Keep in mind that the Law Director not only "educated" elected officials about Sunshine Laws, etc., but he also gave them his legal opinion(s) about Sunshine Laws, e.g. that it would be okay to have executive sessions about the Master Agreement or to interact via emails about public business.

[Brian Essi]

IMG_1248.JPG (90.45 KiB) Viewed 3729 times

[Bridget Conant]

Now THAT above takes the cake!

The mayor sends some underling to take the class for him.

What does that say about the mayor's commitment to transparency, ethics, and following Ohio law?

This is a big RED FLAG. How anyone can condone this, I do not know. If the mayor is "too busy" to attend an ethics and law class, then he's too busy to be the mayor.

[mjkuhns]

Who/what determines that you can send someone to complete this training on your behalf? Is it specified in the code? A policy of the Attorney General? Whatever the basis for this practice, it seems to me like something which could be of concern beyond Lakewood.

Also, on a related though probably trival note, any guesses who Dana W. Anderson is?

I don't want to make assumptions.

[Lori Allen _]

It appears that City Hall learned little to nothing about sunshine. Perhaps it is because they are concentrating too much on moonshine!

After all, there is a distillery and bar going in at the old Fridrich building. I am glad to see that the mayor and those at City Hall are doing their best to make Lakewood the healthiest city in America.

[cmager]

Here are a few public records that I received in October, 2016 concerning "public records training" of our elected officials that is mandated by law:

IMG_1245.JPG

Butler Takes Records Training For Others.pdf

The problem with our city government representatives is that they have NO training in what is considered ethical in local government. This is not just a problem, this is a HUGE problem. They don't understand sunshine laws, they don't understand executive session, etc. We have the same civic-minded people in governing positions. They have always meant well. They've meant no harm. They just blew it. We haven't had people to challenge them in elections. We've blown that.

Offended. Shocked. Horrified. My take is that they want to garner this normal human sympathy while they act against the best interests of the community. I'm not willing to cut them the slack that they appear to want. To me it's a tool that they use. And I'll bet that Summers did not change his behavior as a result of that feedback.

Respectfully, to me it's not training. They should have a core approach of "doing the right thing" and you don't need training for that. Too many people acting with great intention, to then claim that it's the lack of a training seminar with a bunch of reading and Powerpoint slides. Training won't do anything when they lack the attitude, or are opposed to the premise of the training. Witness tabling the new City Charter, cutting records retention, acting with obvious ethical conflicts, refusing to provide records, repeated violations of open meetings, conflicted hiring, and on and on.

I don't buy that they mean well. Not at all.

So we have a Law Director/Records Custodial who might be characterized as a serial abuser of public records requirements. The Law Director encourages new and seasoned elected officials to designate him take required training for the elected officials' obligations concerning public records. And then the Law Director "educates" the elected officials as to their duties. It all may be "legal", but does anyone see a pattern of control of information here? Huh? Hmmm. My apologies to Steve Davis for habitually plagiarizing his Huh? & Hmmm quotes

That sure is a precious certificate. Pressing questions:
1. Did it come with a gold foil sticker?
2. Since there is only one certificate, who gets to put it on their refrigerator?
3. Who is Dana W. Anderson? If it's David W. Anderson, how could he be so unashamed as to accept this?
4. Name the first-time councilmen who could not be bothered to attend the class - even in their first year!
5. In the spirit of plausible deniability, is there an underling who attended the class on behalf of Kevin M. Butler?

[Lori Allen _]

In the end, I don't believe it really matters, as it appears they have no plans on following it anyway.

What percentage of the requested records has Butler released now?

Perhaps the Federal Bureau of Investigation should go in and seize the records before they are shredded, per the records retention schedule. I would not be surprised if many of these records were probably already loaded into a "Shred-It" truck and are probably Lord knows where by now, all in little pieces.