AR 021709 follow-up prior public comment

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CITY OF COLTON AGENDA REPORT FOR COUNCIL MEETING OF FEBRUARY 17, 2009 TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL VIA: CITY MANAGER FROM: FINANCE DIRECTOR & CITY ATTORNEY SUBJECT: INVESTIGATION SHOWS NO EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT MR. GARY GROSSICH'S ALLEGATION THAT STAFF PURPOSELY EDITED HIS NEGATIVE PUBLIC COMMENTS ABOUT THE CITY BUDGET WITHIN THE DIGITAL RECORDING OF THE JANUARY 20, 2009 CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: FEBRUARY 14, 2009 BACKGROUND: During the February 3, 2009 City Council meeting, Mr. Gary Grossich raised a concern regarding his public comments at the January 20, 2009 City Council meeting being edited on the Channel 3 re -broadcast, and he asked the City Attorney to investigate his concerns. Mr. Grossich reiterated his concerns in emails to the City Clerk and City Attorney on Saturday, February 7, 2009, and he asked for an independent investigation by an outside agency. Mr. Grossich believes that - since the City Attorney is hired by and represents the City of Colton - it would be an obvious conflict of interest for the City Attorney or his law firm to investigate these matters. In his emails, Mr. Grossich heightened his allegations, stating that ". . . myself and others have come to the conclusion that this was indeed an intentional act by someone within the Colton city government staff which violated 1 st Amendment rights to freedom of speech." BRIEF CONCLUSION: Staff has found no evidence that any person intentionally edited Mr. Grossich's public comments on the digital recording version of the January 20, 2009 City Council meeting. While it is admittedly unusual that only Mr. Grossich's comments appear to be impacted in any significant way, staffs best explanation for what occurred is a computer or electrical glitch caused by a lack of hard drive space and staff efforts taken to re -broadcast the full version of the January 20`h meeting on Channel 3. In any event, Mr. Grossich's comments have always been able to be seen in their entirety through either the web stream version of the January 20th meeting (available 24/7 on the City's website) or by requesting a DVD copy of the meeting. In addition, the City re -broadcast the complete version of the January 20tt' meeting — including Mr. Grossich's comments in their entirety — on February 5th ORANGE\DDERLETH\54438.6