Nine things that burn in your brain when the mayor sues you
A special Mayor Kevin Johnson listicle
This week was at once weird, unexpected, electric and head-scratching.We got sued by the mayor, what the hell is going on? Only a listicle will do. And, so: Nine things that burn in your brain when K.J. sues you.
1. Wait, did we really just get sued by K.J.? Our attorney reassured us that Johnson’s attorneys likely wouldn’t follow through with their threat of litigation. Why would they? Journalists enjoy a legal right to newsgathering, including the request of public records. It’d be supremely dumb for them to sue us. And yet, it happened.
2. Why didn’t the Bee tell the mayor’s lawyer to buzz off? The mayor’s attorney, David Pittinsky, threatened our writer Cosmo Garvin and Marissa Lang, a reporter at The Sacramento Bee. This attorney was clearly harassing these journalists. Garvin, what with his zero-tolerance policy for empty threats and white-collar intimidation, ultimately ignored Pittinsky. But Lang sort of acquiesced to Pittinsky’s demand, even writing the polite, “Let me know if there’s anything else you need from my end” on her email communique. (In her defense, Pittinsky then totally mischaracterized what she’d agreed to as part of the final lawsuit.) Still, why didn’t the Bee tell K.J.’s lawyer to go burn some popcorn? Their decision is symptomatic of Scoopy’s soft spot when it comes to the mayor, and the Bee’s post-lawsuit coverage of the email shenanigans clearly suggests embarrassment at The Hive. (Read Rachel Leibrock’s essay on page 21.)
3. Someone in K.J.’s office actually gave this the thumbs-up? I keep imagining this scene as a Woody Allen film:
K.J. (in mayoral library reading Nietzsche): “I’m sick of that pesky Cosmo Garvin digging in my emails. Have my attorneys do something about it.”
Staffer (polishing mayoral bust): “Sir, yes sir.”
(Staffer calls attorney.)
Staffer: “Do something about these damn hacks snooping in our emails.”
Lawyer (sipping espresso with pinky pointed toward the sky): “I have the perrrfect solution.”
In all seriousness, there’s clearly information in these emails that will impact the various National Conference of Black Mayors lawsuits. Ironically, suing SN&R makes it even more likely that those messages will see daylight.
4. Nobody seemed to care about K.J.’s private Gmails months ago when Cosmo Garvin was writing about it. What changed? This paper’s been banging the drum about the mayor using secret Gmail accounts for public work for months. We served it up on a silver platter, comparing Johnson’s email practices to those of Hillary Clinton while Secretary of State (we even commissioned the sweet illustration on this page). Yet not a peep from the Bee editorial board or any other news media outlet. Until K.J. made the mistake of suing us—and now it’s front-page, 5 p.m. news. Nice one, traditional media!
5. K.J. says his national profile is good for Sacramento. But how does a “coup” with a black Sacramento News & Review - Nine things that burn in your brain when the mayor sues you - Feature Story - Local Stories - July 9, 2015:
Related stories this week:
The city of Sacramento needs to pause its plan to delete 54 million old emails
It's really bad timing for the city to dump years' worth of public records.
Why Mayor Kevin Johnson sued SN&R, what we've learned—and what happens next
Mayor’s spokesman to SN&R: “It is what it is.”
On The Sacramento Bee's soft spot for K.J.
The Bee has been criticized before for its handling of Johnson’s various controversies, and this latest legal dust-up isn’t helping.
The city of Sacramento needs to pause its plan to delete 54 million old emails
It's really bad timing for the city to dump years' worth of public records.
Why Mayor Kevin Johnson sued SN&R, what we've learned—and what happens next
Mayor’s spokesman to SN&R: “It is what it is.”
On The Sacramento Bee's soft spot for K.J.
The Bee has been criticized before for its handling of Johnson’s various controversies, and this latest legal dust-up isn’t helping.