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Speaker 1: What's going on. Thank you so much for listening to

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this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon

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to three on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you

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subscribe button. Get every episode for free, write to your

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smartphone or tablet, and again, thank you so much for

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your support. So an open letter to the Charlotte City

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Council and the citizens of Charlotte. I don't know who

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has seen this or reported on this, but I figured

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this woman wrote took the time to write this letter,

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and she sums up the issues going on with our

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local governance very very well. And it is titled an

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open letter, and so I don't think she would mind

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if I read it. Her name is Robin Emmons. She

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lives in District three in the Paw Creek neighborhood. Now

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she is, I looked her up. She's a farmer and

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an activist. She created a nonprofit called So Much Good,

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So Sow, So Much Good nonprofit and they grow and

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distribute farm fresh produce for underserved communities. She's been recognized

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nationally for this work, and so she wrote this letter.

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Now I don't know if she has any plans to

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run for office, for a city council seat or anything.

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I don't, but I appreciate her doing this, She says

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to the Mayor Ylyles, the members of Charlotte City Council,

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and my fellow citizen. So this is addressed to you

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if you live in Charlotte. As a resident of Charlotte

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and a constituent of District three, I write today with

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deep concern about the state of leadership and integrity in

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our city. Recent events have not only shaken my confidence

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in those elected to serve us, they have revealed troubling

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patterns that continue to erode public trust and delegitimize institutions

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across our nation. The federal indictment of Councilwoman Tijuana Brown,

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who represents my district, is only the latest in a

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growing list of alarming developments within our city government and

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related public institutions. Councilwoman Brown stands accused of wire fraud

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and conspiracy involving more than one hundred and twenty four

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thousand dollars in COVID relief funds beyond the disturbing details

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of how those funds were reportedly used. I'm left wondering,

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where is the self regulation we expect from our leaders.

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The discipline to a void even the appearance of wrongdoing,

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especially when operating under fragile public trust and preparing to

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ask for it again, it should be foundational.

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Speaker 2: Right.

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Speaker 1: The discipline to avoid even the appearance of wrongdoing should

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be foundational. These charges, compounded by a prior conviction for

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fraud and time served in federal prison, demand thoughtful scrutiny.

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While Councilwoman Brown maintains her innocence and emphasizes that the

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allegations pre date her time in office, her claim that

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these charges reflect attacks based on race and her refusal

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to step down further undermine public confidence. I found this

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framing not only unsatisfactory, but deeply troubling. As a black woman,

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I do not offer this feedback to minimize these systemic

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injustices that persist in our legal and political systems. They

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are real, and they are ongoing, but we must not

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use the language of systemic injustice to Exciteskew's individual misconduct.

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When Councilwoman Brown stated that quote the Justice system doesn't

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favor people who look like me as a deflection from

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legitimate inquiry, it rang not just hollow, it rang careless.

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To invoke that truth as a political shield in this

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context is a disservice to those who are fighting every

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day for a more just and equitable society. But Councilwoman

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Brown is not alone. The allegations against Mecklenburg County Sheriff

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Gary McFadden are also deeply disturbing. While the sheriff has

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received praise for his quote no nonsense leadership style, his

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tenure has also been marked by troubling reports a toxic

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workplace for deputies, retaliation against staff, public humiliation of employees,

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and the use of racially charged and demeaning language. These

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concerns are compounded by a dramatic spike in jailed deaths

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during his tenure, higher than under previous sheriffs with similar

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time in office. Accolades from AFAR cannot erase the very

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real harm experienced here at home by employees, by community members,

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and by families who have lost loved ones while in

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county custody. It should be clear to Sheriff McFadden that

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recognition does not outweigh the duty to lead with professionalism, transparency,

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and integrity. In yet another blow to public confidence, the

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city recently approved a three hundred thousand dollars settlement to

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police Chief Johnny Jennings in a closed door council session,

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reportedly to avoid a lawsuit. No explanation was provided to

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the public. This lack of transparency has triggered an investigation

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by the North Carolina State Auditor, who reminded us, quote,

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there is no tax dollar free from public scrutiny. I

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wholeheartedly agree. I write this not in haste and not

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to shame. None of us are perfect, but I do

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believe that those called to serve and entrusted to lead

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must be held to a higher standard. This is not

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just about Charlotte. Across this country, disinformation, corruption and political

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apathy are feeding public disillusionment and fraying the very fabric

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of civil society. Like the rule of law, governance only

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works when we all agree to believe in it, when

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we trust in the efficacy of our leaders and the

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legitimacy of the rules. We and Charlotte are not immune.

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And while I do not call for a rush to judgment,

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due process matters when the noise of scandal grows so

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loud that it drowns out the ability to govern. We

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must ask does continued service benefit the city or detract

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from it. This is a question for every council member

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who bears responsibility not just to their office, but to

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the people who placed them there. Holding office is not

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a right, it is a responsibility, and clinging to power

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in spite of all else reflects a deeper problem, one

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that has failed too many communities time and again. Charlotte

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deserves better. We deserve leaders who reflect the best of

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our values, honesty, humility, accountability, and a clear eyed commitment

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to public service. Let this moment be a turning point,

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not toward further division, but toward ethical leadership and civic renewal.

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Charlotte has long positioned itself as a shining city of

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the New South. If that identity is to mean anything today,

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it must be reflected in how we govern, not just

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in growth or branding, but in the integrity of our

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leadership and the trust we build with those we serve,

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with respect and hope for our city's future. Signed Robin Emmons,

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District three, Paul Creek Neighborhood ps. I write not only

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as a concerned citizen, but as part of a growing

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national effort to restore the moral center of public life.

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The Citizens Project twenty twenty five is a call to

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action for local ambassadors, engaged neighbors, and everyday people to

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step up, speak out, and demand better from those who lead.

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Charlotte has the potential to model what courageous, transparent and

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people first governance can look like. Let's begin here again.

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That's the Citizens Project twenty twenty five. And she did

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a marvelous job with this letter. I read it this

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weekend and I shared it on social media. She sums

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it up right from McFadden Gary, not my fault McFadden,

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Tijuana Brown. The behavior of the Charlotte City Council with

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regards to the police chief. The police chief, what are

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you people doing? You know, what are y'all doing? Because

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this is not dare I call it the Charlotte way.

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This has never been what we're seeing now with what's

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going on in Charlotte politics. Now, I can tell you

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as one who covered city council, County Commission, the school board. Okay,

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maybe the school board they were always kind dysfunctional, but

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the other two this was never the way that Charlotte

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leadership behaved. This is new. So last night the Charlotte

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City Council had its first meeting since all of this

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stuff blew up, with the settlement with the police chief,

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the payoff, and the indictment of Tijuana Brown. And she

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was there last night. There was a public forum. Not

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a single person addressed her or these issues. However, at

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the end of the meeting, Councilwoman Lawana Mayfield she raised

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an issue not on the agenda. The real issue, the

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one that she really wants to get to the bottom of,

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is who the hell's been talking to the media? Right

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They're on a mole hunt. She wants that to begin

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post taste. How do we get the ball rolling on

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the mole hunt to find out who has been talking

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to the media from the closed sessions that city Council

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has been holding, who's been leaking stuff to the media, Because,

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as we all know, snitches get censured or an ethics

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complain violation filed against them or something. All right, So

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spring is here a time of renewal and celebrations. You've

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got graduations, weddings, anniversaries and the special days for mom

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and dad. Your family's making memories that are going to

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last a lifetime. But let me ask you are all

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of those treasured moments from days gone by? Are they

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hidden away on old VCR tapes, eight millimeter films, photos slides?

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fade and deteriorate, losing the magic of yesterday. At Creative Video,

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just off four eighty five. Mail orders are accepted to

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get all the details that create a video. Dot Com

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got an email from Jonathan Pete based on the amazing

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letter you just read, I just braved, not Googled. Yes,

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I use Brave as well. Brave is the browser of choice. Okay,

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if you don't want to be tracked, don't want like

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all of the cookies and all of the ad tracking

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and pop ups and everything else you want to swap

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out your browser for Brave. Brave was created by Brendan Iike.

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I've talked about this over the years. I'm a big fan.

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This was the guy who created Firefox, Mozilla, Firefox, that

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browser which I used to use, and I was happy

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with Firefox. And then his board of directors removed him

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from his own company like he did Firefox, and they

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fired him because he made a five hundred dollars donation

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to Prop eight in California, which was to define marriages

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between a man and a woman. And when the voter

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or sorry, the donor list to prop eate got hacked

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and disclosed, they went hunting for people on the donor

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list and they found him, and the leftists whipped up

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this mob and they got him fired. And then after

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I guess he sat out long enough for his non

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compete to expire, he went and built another browser which

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is superior to all others, Brave. So anyway, back to

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the email from Jonathan, based on the amazing letter you

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just read, I braved the above Citizens Project twenty twenty five.

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In the first two options, I got were ACLU dot

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org and the Project twenty twenty five from Heritage Foundation

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that has gotten so much flak from the left. Is

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that what she was mentioning. I don't know, I've not

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heard of the Citizens Project twenty twenty five. I believe

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she is politically on the left. So if I had

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to pick one of those two, I would say ACLU.

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But I don't know. I don't know what the Citizens

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Project is. She just made this little PostScript. The Citizens

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Project twenty twenty five is a call to action for

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local ambassadors, engaged neighbors and everyday people to step up,

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speak out, and demand better from those who lead. So

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I don't know what else, what else that organization is

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about or the effort, But I just read her letter

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because it was addressed to you, so you know, and

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me all Charlotte residents. So there you go. But yeah,

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i'd be interested. Maybe I'll maybe I'll brave it during

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the during the break. All right, So let me get

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to the Charlotte City Council meeting last night. The most

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important thing that the city council members need to wrestle

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with right now is who has been telling media stuff

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from closed session? How dare they inform the public about

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things that they are doing in closed session. So Lewana

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Mayfield said, hey, we need to get the ball rolling

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on investigations here.

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Speaker 3: The way our system is set up because of North

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Carolina General Assembly legislative language, I must ask my colleagues

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to be recused in order to not be present at

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a closed session meeting. I have concerns regarding our closed

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session meetings because quite a few of those meetings, honestly,

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before we even leave the meeting, the information has been

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shared with the media, which is in direct opposition of

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the oath, one of the oaths that we take, but

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also legislative policy.

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Speaker 1: Oh my goodness. So people are well, just look to

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see who's on their phone. Then if some like if

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stuff is leaking out in the middle of the closed session,

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like Joe Bruno is getting direct texts and Brett Jensen

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is getting you know, notes in real time about what's

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going on, then you know what, then maybe just look

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across the table and look to see who's on their phones.

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But this is so there's two parts of her comments here,

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two parts. So one is and Renee Johnson will also

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pick up on this, which is, if I leave the

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closed session. Why is my so counted as a yes?

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And this question has come up? This actually state law,

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So this question came up. A lot of people were

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unaware of that. That's one component. But then the other

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component is who's leaking?

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Speaker 3: Mister Fox, I need to get an understanding of what

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is the process for there to be any research on

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what ability or inability we have. Let's say we're going

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to go. We announced from this diast that we're getting

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ready to go in the closed session. If I was

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to say, okay, clerk, go ahead and put me down

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as a note because I'm not going to be attended

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this closed session, I don't know if I would be

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able to do that because the way that our policy

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language is written, you must be in attendance. If you

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are not in attendance, then that is an automatic yes vote.

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Speaker 2: What do you.

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Speaker 3: Need in order for you to move forward to one?

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Do an investigation and or identify can their language to

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say no sail phones, no smartphones, no nothing in our

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closed session so that we can have a meeting that

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doesn't be reported to the immediate media immediately afterwards. Because

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there are a lot of important discussions that we have

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and the information is going to be released through the

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close office after decision anyway.

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Speaker 1: Not necessarily just if well, I mean, I could tell you,

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like I'm old enough to remember when this issue came

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up with Chief Jennings's settlement, right, Yeah, you guys weren't

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going to tell anybody about that, were you. It was

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only because Jennings and the city attorney waived confidentiality. That

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settlement agreement had in it a confidentiality clause that they

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were not supposed to talk about any of the details

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in the settlement. So don't tell me that, Oh, the

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city clerk is going to publish the results after the

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votes anyway, No, she won't. You know, how do you

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know how far back in arrears they are on minutes?

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You're like, this is truly amazing to me in today's

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day and age with all of the AI stuff, and

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they have a clerk that is trying to put minutes

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of the meetings out and they still can't seem to

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catch up. It's unbelievable. Back in my day, literally back

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in my day, when there were no AI things to

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help out, it was just Brenda Freeze typing away and

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then the minutes would be posted like within a day

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or two you had a complete transcript of everything that

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happened at the city council meeting. So yeah, I don't

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put a lot of faith and confidence in the city's

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ability or willingness to produce this information after the fact

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if it's not required. And boohoo hoo. You have some

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city council members that feel like this information should actually

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be public and the city is not going to be

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making it public, so they are leaking it out. Good

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00:19:15,839 --> 00:19:20,119
for them, Good for them. Here's a great idea. How

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the Blue Ridge Mountains. Centrally located between Asheville and the

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entrance of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. It's the

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perfect balance of seclusion and proximity to all the local

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com and make memories that'll last a lifetime. All right, So,

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00:20:33,680 --> 00:20:40,000
the Charlotte City Council last night meets and one of

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00:20:40,079 --> 00:20:43,039
Charlotte City Council members calling for an investigation into their

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00:20:43,079 --> 00:20:48,039
closed session meetings, mainly the people who are going to

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00:20:48,079 --> 00:20:50,279
the media, the city council members who tell the media

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00:20:51,079 --> 00:20:53,599
stuff that goes on in the closed session, which, by

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00:20:53,640 --> 00:20:57,759
the way, that has occurred, that's been occurring ever since

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there were closed meetings and a media so moral compass

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00:21:03,920 --> 00:21:07,119
on Twitter points out it's a pete tweet points out

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a mole aka a whistleblower. Right, something is going on

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00:21:13,160 --> 00:21:14,920
in the closed session that should not be going on

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in closed session. The people have a right to know

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what's going on. And a city council member then goes

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and tells a member of the media, this is what

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happened in the closed session and Lewana Mayfield, Councilwoman Mayfield

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is keen to start the investigation to find out who

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has been telling the citizens of Charlotte what's been going

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on with their tax dollars?

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Speaker 3: Or is that something that I can request or is

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that something that has to come for as a council

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vote with majority.

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Speaker 2: What does that look like, Councilman Mayful, there are several

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00:21:49,720 --> 00:21:55,400
questions that you have raised in your address. First of all,

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you're correct. So it's a it's a product of the

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state law that provides that if a member who attends

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a meeting leads that meeting, that that member is counted

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in the affirmative as a vote when they are not

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excused from that meeting. The law provides that you are

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excused when you can demonstrate to the council that you

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have a financial or peculiary interest in the matter absent

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that your colleagues should not technically allow one to be excused.

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So are your ability to announce that you are no

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vote and not attend a closed session meeting would not

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have the way that you would like for it to

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have because your vote would be counted in the affirmative.

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00:22:48,319 --> 00:22:53,000
Speaker 1: So this only applies obviously if the council member comes

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to the meeting first, right, So the way they do

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their meetings, well, first they have their dinner meeting. They

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do like a workshop kind of a deal, and that's

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televised you can watch. But then they go downstairs to

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the full chamber they have their meeting. And so if

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you show up at any point for the open sessions

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and then the council votes to go into closed session

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and you do not go into the closed session, that's

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still part of the same meeting, and so your vote

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is counted as a yes. So let's say the meeting,

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the open meeting is running like four hours. They used

359
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to cover those all the time. They would drag on

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to eleven twelve o'clock at night, you know, and then

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they would go into a closed session. So let's say, like,

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00:23:42,839 --> 00:23:44,680
I can't stay I got a flight to catch, this

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meeting has gone way too long or whatever, and so

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you bail. Now, every vote that comes up after that

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you get counted as a yes. So and again that's

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00:23:53,920 --> 00:23:58,240
state law for all municipalities. Now, if you just don't

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show up to any of the poor, the open or

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the close, you just don't show up that night for

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the meetings, then you're not counted one way or the other.

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So that's the only way to avoid having a vote

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counted as a yes on something if you can't stick

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around for the whole meeting. Does that make sense?

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Speaker 2: Now? With regards to closed session, Council Member Wallerston has

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raised a question that office is looking at about a

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00:24:26,559 --> 00:24:31,839
bifurcated approach to the meeting where you have a separate

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notice of the closed session as well as the business meeting,

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and we are evaluating that option. There's some hurdles to that,

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but we're looking to respond to that.

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Speaker 1: So this is not a new issue. Apparently this has

380
00:24:48,400 --> 00:24:53,359
been raised before. It makes me wonder, what exactly have

381
00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:56,359
you guys been doing in closed session that has created

382
00:24:56,559 --> 00:25:05,000
this kind of animosity and confusion and leaking. Right, what

383
00:25:05,240 --> 00:25:10,000
haven't we heard about to the point where councilwoman Victoria Watlington,

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who recall about a week ago, had accused the city

385
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and the council of unethical and maybe illegal behavior. So

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she is suggesting that you do separate notices because the

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law requires you to issue a public notice for a

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00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:28,279
public meeting. You've got to give people, you know, enough

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00:25:28,319 --> 00:25:30,160
time to go to the meeting, you have to advertise

390
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where it is and all of that, and so there

391
00:25:33,200 --> 00:25:34,920
are all sorts of rules that govern that. So you

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00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:40,599
have to advertise the public meeting. So her idea is

393
00:25:40,640 --> 00:25:45,839
to say, let's advertise an open meeting and then advertise

394
00:25:46,160 --> 00:25:50,319
a closed meeting, and we're going to make them separate meetings.

395
00:25:51,359 --> 00:25:54,279
It's not going to be on like your one business

396
00:25:54,440 --> 00:25:57,279
meeting agenda where it says closed session if needed, and

397
00:25:57,319 --> 00:25:59,279
then you go into a closed session as part of

398
00:25:59,319 --> 00:26:01,880
that meeting. No, well, it'll be a separate meeting just

399
00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:05,799
for a closed session. That would maybe allow council members

400
00:26:05,880 --> 00:26:09,680
who don't want to participate in whatever chicanery. I don't know,

401
00:26:09,799 --> 00:26:12,240
but whatever is whatever's going on in the closed session,

402
00:26:12,799 --> 00:26:15,839
they don't want to participate in it for whatever reason.

403
00:26:17,440 --> 00:26:20,640
So that's the city attorney. The interim City attorney Anthony Fox,

404
00:26:20,759 --> 00:26:24,359
not the former mayor, but interim city attorney, who is

405
00:26:24,680 --> 00:26:27,200
saying it, just said that they are, they're looking into it,

406
00:26:27,240 --> 00:26:29,960
they're exploring whether they could do that. All right, if

407
00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:31,759
you're listening to this show, you know I try to

408
00:26:31,799 --> 00:26:33,599
keep up with all sorts of current events, and I

409
00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:35,839
know you do too, And you've probably heard me say

410
00:26:35,960 --> 00:26:40,000
get your news from multiple sources. Why well, because it's

411
00:26:40,039 --> 00:26:42,720
how you detect media bias, which is why I've been

412
00:26:42,759 --> 00:26:46,319
so impressed with ground News. It's an app, and it's

413
00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:49,279
a website and it combines news from around the world

414
00:26:49,319 --> 00:26:52,759
in one place, so you can compare coverage and verify information.

415
00:26:53,039 --> 00:26:56,240
You could check it out at check dot ground, dot

416
00:26:56,359 --> 00:26:59,920
news slash pete. I put the link in the podcast description.

417
00:27:00,640 --> 00:27:03,000
I started using ground News a few months ago and

418
00:27:03,119 --> 00:27:05,720
more recently chose to work with them as an affiliate

419
00:27:05,720 --> 00:27:09,079
because it lets me see clearly how stories get covered

420
00:27:09,160 --> 00:27:12,039
and by whom. The blind spot feature shows you which

421
00:27:12,079 --> 00:27:14,960
stories get ignored by the left and the right. See

422
00:27:14,960 --> 00:27:20,039
for yourself check dot ground, dot news slash pete. Subscribe

423
00:27:20,039 --> 00:27:22,920
through that link and you'll get fifteen percent off any subscription.

424
00:27:23,279 --> 00:27:26,000
I use the Vantage Plan to get unlimited access to

425
00:27:26,079 --> 00:27:29,519
every feature. Your subscription then not only helps my podcast,

426
00:27:29,559 --> 00:27:31,920
but it also supports ground news as they make the

427
00:27:31,960 --> 00:27:36,279
media landscape more transparent. I have a peak meal from

428
00:27:36,400 --> 00:27:40,759
Ron who says, Charlotte leadership, you get the government you deserve.

429
00:27:40,839 --> 00:27:43,039
I would not hold my breath waiting on any self

430
00:27:43,039 --> 00:27:47,440
reflection by Charlotte area leadership. And then I got a

431
00:27:47,480 --> 00:27:53,240
tweet message from Kenny Smith, who ran for mayor with

432
00:27:53,319 --> 00:28:02,200
a campaign slogan of Charlotte deserves better. I ask, does

433
00:28:02,240 --> 00:28:09,119
it seriously? Like we keep saying, and people keep making

434
00:28:09,119 --> 00:28:13,359
this argument, you know that we deserve better leadership, But

435
00:28:14,000 --> 00:28:19,200
I'm not sure we do right. I mean, we get

436
00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:22,160
what we vote for, or in my case, I get

437
00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:27,319
what other people vote for. Well because I live outside

438
00:28:27,319 --> 00:28:30,880
city limits. But I yeah, outside city limits, so I

439
00:28:30,960 --> 00:28:34,279
have no city council representation, even though I am controlled

440
00:28:34,319 --> 00:28:37,119
by all of their zoning. Oh it's a wonderful spot

441
00:28:37,119 --> 00:28:37,519
to be in.

442
00:28:37,839 --> 00:28:38,680
Speaker 2: Yeah.

443
00:28:39,079 --> 00:28:41,400
Speaker 1: No, they're not taxing me, so there's no taxation with

444
00:28:41,440 --> 00:28:45,279
that representation. It's just you know, controls, aren't you know,

445
00:28:45,480 --> 00:28:51,279
development and such that impact the whole portion of the county.

446
00:28:51,799 --> 00:28:56,480
Because when they couldn't get people to get annexed in involuntarily.

447
00:28:57,960 --> 00:29:01,839
Nobody wanted to join, So that's where we kind of are. Anyway,

448
00:29:02,119 --> 00:29:08,200
back to the audio here from Councilwoman Lawana Mayfield asking

449
00:29:08,240 --> 00:29:10,559
the interim city Attorney, how do we get the ball

450
00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:15,319
rolling to find out who's been leaking from inside the

451
00:29:15,359 --> 00:29:17,400
city council closed sessions.

452
00:29:17,160 --> 00:29:23,559
Speaker 2: With regards to I think your question regarding I don't

453
00:29:23,559 --> 00:29:27,359
know if it's an investigation. The only thing I'm looking

454
00:29:27,400 --> 00:29:32,559
at right now that within my Bailey Wick is the

455
00:29:32,599 --> 00:29:38,319
product of having done a disclosure for the airport twenty

456
00:29:38,359 --> 00:29:43,480
five bonds, and in that disclosure we raised comments that

457
00:29:43,519 --> 00:29:49,519
were made and I, in responding to that, assured to

458
00:29:49,880 --> 00:29:52,920
the bond holders that we would look into that. And

459
00:29:52,960 --> 00:29:57,680
that is something that I'm looking into sufficient enough to

460
00:29:57,720 --> 00:30:01,160
provide a response that we have. I looked at it

461
00:30:01,799 --> 00:30:05,519
and determine if there's no there there. There's no there there,

462
00:30:05,559 --> 00:30:09,039
But we've got to, as a point of due diligence,

463
00:30:09,079 --> 00:30:10,640
look into that issue, all right.

464
00:30:10,680 --> 00:30:13,759
Speaker 1: I must admit I have no idea what he's talking

465
00:30:13,799 --> 00:30:18,599
about here. I'm not I don't know. Something to do

466
00:30:18,680 --> 00:30:22,599
with the bond holders. Is there something like a violation

467
00:30:22,759 --> 00:30:27,559
that would jeopardize, like the bonds or something. Maybe this

468
00:30:27,680 --> 00:30:29,759
was an issue that arose a couple of years ago.

469
00:30:29,839 --> 00:30:31,440
I just I wasn't aware of it. I don't know.

470
00:30:31,519 --> 00:30:34,200
I have no idea what he's talking about, but it

471
00:30:34,319 --> 00:30:37,079
somehow relates to whatever approach they're going to try to

472
00:30:37,119 --> 00:30:40,119
take on this leaking. Maybe there was some leaking about

473
00:30:40,240 --> 00:30:43,039
the bonds or the airport projects or something. I don't know.

474
00:30:44,759 --> 00:30:50,559
Speaker 3: Apologies because I actually part of my question was ask incorrectly.

475
00:30:51,559 --> 00:30:55,240
I believe I sent you an email thanking you and

476
00:30:55,279 --> 00:30:58,519
saying I'm looking forward to whatever the results are, based

477
00:30:58,559 --> 00:31:03,160
off of an emails previously sent. Yet also in there,

478
00:31:03,359 --> 00:31:05,319
I think I asked the question, and I'm not I'm

479
00:31:05,319 --> 00:31:08,839
gonna ask it now. Is there a space for your

480
00:31:08,920 --> 00:31:12,680
office and or the manager's office to do an investigation

481
00:31:12,880 --> 00:31:17,000
so that we on the council can have full transparency

482
00:31:17,079 --> 00:31:20,759
if there is a member or members that is releasing

483
00:31:20,839 --> 00:31:25,079
information to the media when we are still in discussion

484
00:31:25,279 --> 00:31:29,960
of whatever the item that we go into closed session for,

485
00:31:30,319 --> 00:31:33,400
do we have what would be what would it take

486
00:31:33,759 --> 00:31:35,880
for that investigation to.

487
00:31:35,960 --> 00:31:41,240
Speaker 2: Happen that would require a director for discouncil required will

488
00:31:41,279 --> 00:31:44,440
take you to this Council to direct our office to

489
00:31:44,599 --> 00:31:50,599
look into issues around closed session meetings and provide a

490
00:31:50,640 --> 00:31:55,799
report or response. Partly that may include our office doing

491
00:31:55,799 --> 00:32:00,319
it or having an outside firm conduct that, but would

492
00:32:00,359 --> 00:32:03,839
require the directive of this all of this council in

493
00:32:03,960 --> 00:32:05,839
order for us to undertake that engagement.

494
00:32:05,880 --> 00:32:09,640
Speaker 3: So for clarification of a director, director, if I am

495
00:32:09,720 --> 00:32:12,039
requesting it, are you saying you will be able to

496
00:32:12,079 --> 00:32:14,920
move forward an investigation or that you would need a

497
00:32:14,920 --> 00:32:18,559
certain number of council members to actually vote in order

498
00:32:18,640 --> 00:32:19,480
for that to happen.

499
00:32:19,599 --> 00:32:22,799
Speaker 2: Yeah, I view it as that would be a council action,

500
00:32:23,319 --> 00:32:26,240
and action that this council requires six votes.

501
00:32:26,160 --> 00:32:32,319
Speaker 1: Correct, Yeah. Individual council members don't get to direct staff resources.

502
00:32:32,599 --> 00:32:36,400
It's been a very old rule. One member on the

503
00:32:36,440 --> 00:32:40,599
eleven member body does not get to tell the manager

504
00:32:41,359 --> 00:32:43,279
go do this, or tell the attorney go launch an

505
00:32:43,319 --> 00:32:46,119
investigation into my political enemy or something like. You don't

506
00:32:46,119 --> 00:32:48,000
get to do that. So you would need the full

507
00:32:48,039 --> 00:32:52,119
council to vote. Now here's the problem. There's no criminal

508
00:32:52,160 --> 00:32:55,960
conduct here, right, So this would be just like a

509
00:32:56,000 --> 00:33:01,640
city government probe that would require that all of the

510
00:33:01,680 --> 00:33:06,480
council members cooperate if they're going to be interviewed, right,

511
00:33:06,599 --> 00:33:10,880
because if you're trying to find the mole, like, unless

512
00:33:10,880 --> 00:33:13,880
the reporters want to completely torch their careers, they're not

513
00:33:13,920 --> 00:33:16,160
going to tell you where they're getting the information from.

514
00:33:16,200 --> 00:33:19,799
They're not going to burn their sources. So you have

515
00:33:19,880 --> 00:33:24,759
to ask the council members. Oh and also all the staffers.

516
00:33:25,440 --> 00:33:29,640
Let's not forget about the staffers. See everybody thinks that

517
00:33:29,680 --> 00:33:32,079
it's always the city council members, but there are other

518
00:33:32,119 --> 00:33:36,480
people in those rooms having conversations about this stuff too,

519
00:33:36,599 --> 00:33:37,880
So you're going to have to bring in all of

520
00:33:37,920 --> 00:33:40,640
the staffers. Now, maybe with the staffers, you could require

521
00:33:40,720 --> 00:33:45,240
them to get deposed, like you could, I guess, do

522
00:33:45,759 --> 00:33:52,440
voluntary depositions, swear people under oath, right, get them to

523
00:33:53,720 --> 00:33:57,559
answer questions whether or not they have ever provided information

524
00:33:57,680 --> 00:34:02,160
from a closed session. And if you are the council

525
00:34:02,160 --> 00:34:04,400
member who has been leaking, or you are one of them,

526
00:34:05,720 --> 00:34:08,679
let us also keep this in mind, right, it could

527
00:34:08,719 --> 00:34:12,920
be every single one of them and the mayor. It

528
00:34:12,960 --> 00:34:16,840
could be every member of council and the mayor and

529
00:34:17,039 --> 00:34:20,760
staffers at any given point on any given issue, over

530
00:34:20,920 --> 00:34:25,079
any amount of time. Right, So you're going to put

531
00:34:25,079 --> 00:34:27,000
everybody under oath. You're going to depose them all, and

532
00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:28,880
you're going to ask them if you've ever leaked anything.

533
00:34:29,119 --> 00:34:31,559
And then I guess you could have them voluntarily comply

534
00:34:31,719 --> 00:34:34,719
and do the deposition and lie or admit that they

535
00:34:34,719 --> 00:34:37,480
did disclose stuff, or they just say I'm not going

536
00:34:37,559 --> 00:34:42,199
to participate, which then would indicate that yes, they were

537
00:34:42,199 --> 00:34:46,000
a leaker. All right, that'll do it for this episode.

538
00:34:46,039 --> 00:34:48,119
Thank you so much for listening. I could not do

539
00:34:48,159 --> 00:34:50,280
the show without your support and the support of the

540
00:34:50,320 --> 00:34:53,360
businesses that advertise on the podcast, so if you'd like,

541
00:34:53,519 --> 00:34:55,599
please support them too and tell them you heard it here.

542
00:34:55,760 --> 00:34:58,239
You can also become a patron at my Patreon page

543
00:34:58,400 --> 00:35:01,239
or go to the Pete Calender show dot com. Again,

544
00:35:01,519 --> 00:35:04,079
thank you so much for listening, and don't break anything

545
00:35:04,079 --> 00:35:05,440
while I'm gone.