Editorial: City leaders see no evil, read no evil - Sacramento Opinion - Sacramento Editorial Sacramento Bee:
"The city of Sacramento has an unsung hero in the Natomas permit scandal.
It was a Utilities Department employee, still unnamed, who noticed that someone in the development department had approved permits for new home construction in the Natomas flood zone in April – though a federally mandated building moratorium had been in effect since last December. The employee also noticed irregularities with the fees."
That person did the right thing, contacting Assistant City Manager John Dangberg, the city manager and the city attorney. The next day they all met. They realized immediately that this could affect federal funding for Sacramento's levees and flood insurance subsidies. They contacted the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The city attorney drafted a memo on the issue, which was hand-delivered to the mayor and council members, the city manager, the assistant city manager and the head of the development department.
But – and this is the most important part – the public never would have known about that scandal in the development department if someone hadn't leaked the memo to The Bee. It would all have been hush-hush.
Unfortunately, Mayor Kevin Johnson went out of his way to champion secrecy over disclosure. He went so far as to label the leak a "crime" and unsuccessfully attempted to hold a closed session to ferret out the leaker. The council was told Tuesday that disclosure of the memo was not a crime. No closed session.
"The city of Sacramento has an unsung hero in the Natomas permit scandal.
It was a Utilities Department employee, still unnamed, who noticed that someone in the development department had approved permits for new home construction in the Natomas flood zone in April – though a federally mandated building moratorium had been in effect since last December. The employee also noticed irregularities with the fees."
That person did the right thing, contacting Assistant City Manager John Dangberg, the city manager and the city attorney. The next day they all met. They realized immediately that this could affect federal funding for Sacramento's levees and flood insurance subsidies. They contacted the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The city attorney drafted a memo on the issue, which was hand-delivered to the mayor and council members, the city manager, the assistant city manager and the head of the development department.
But – and this is the most important part – the public never would have known about that scandal in the development department if someone hadn't leaked the memo to The Bee. It would all have been hush-hush.
Unfortunately, Mayor Kevin Johnson went out of his way to champion secrecy over disclosure. He went so far as to label the leak a "crime" and unsuccessfully attempted to hold a closed session to ferret out the leaker. The council was told Tuesday that disclosure of the memo was not a crime. No closed session.