CITY FROM page 10 whose leaders are elected by, and accountable to, the people. It’s not government’s role to cheat victims out of just compensation for wrongful acts committed by the senior officials of that government. How are city officials getting away with deep-sixing the Warren report? They are standing behind various exemptions from the disclosure requirements of the California Public Records Act. They’re claiming exemptions for personnel matters, attorney/client privileged communications, threatened litigation and, my personal favorite, that the anticipated benefits of disclosure are “outweighed” by the likely harm of disclosure. But all of these exemptions from disclosure are entirely discretionary in nature. In other words, the city could, if it wished to do so, disclose the report by simply choosing not to invoke any CPRA exemption. This past fall, the city council had a choice between adopting a robust set of ethics and transparency reforms that were the final product of 10 public forums sponsored by Eye on Sacramento and 23 other community organizations (the community proposals) or a tepid set of reforms approved by the city’s closed-door ad hoc committee on good governance (the ad hoc proposals). The council approved, in principle, the ad hoc proposals and rejected the community proposals. Formal council adoption of the ad hoc proposals is expected later this year. How would this matter be handled under the ad hoc proposals as compared to current city rules? Well, the ethics commission contemplated by the ad hoc proposals would have no authority to consider sexual harassment claims against councilmembers, nor a claim that a public official misused public resources for private gain. Nor would the transparency rules compel the public release of the Warren report. In short, there would be absolutely no difference in the handling of the claims or the report under the ad hoc proposals as compared to current city rules.
Under the community proposals, however, the ethics commission would have the jurisdiction to adjudicate both the sexual harassment claim against Warren as well as the claim that he misused public resources for his private gain. The ethics commission, with independently appointed commissioners, would initiate the investigation and its investigative report would be released to the public, rather than hidden behind the attorney/client privilege. The transparency rules of the community proposals would abolish or limit the exemptions from the CPRA that the city is currently asserting to avoid public disclosure of the Warren report. In short, the community proposals would produce an independent investigation of the claims and a fair and open adjudication of them by independent, impartial commissioners, and would fully disclose its investigative findings to the public. Given the continuing lack of dedication to serious ethics reform at city hall, it’s more and more likely that the community proposals will be the subject of one or more citizendriven ballot measures in 2018.
That’s the theory that police are increasingly reluctant to engage
“depolicing” in Sacramento. Look for my report in my column next month.
in assertive policing in the face of growing community hostility, increased public scrutiny of police actions and a number of politically
MORE STUMBLES The city is having a very difficult
charged investigations and murder
time dealing with a large group of
prosecutions of police officers in the
homeless advocates who are regularly
past year in the aftermath of high-
camping out just outside city hall. The
profile police shootings of unarmed
campers are calling on the city council
black men (as well as deaths in police
to repeal the city’s anti-camping
custody) in Ferguson, Mo., Baltimore,
ordinance, an idea that’s gained zero
North Charleston, S.C., Chicago
traction with the council. At 5 a.m.
and other cities. It’s being called
on a recent cold January morning, 50
“depolicing,” meaning that police are
police officers raided the encampment,
less willing to assertively confront
rousting sleeping campers. They cited
individuals suspected of wrongdoing
some, arrested some and escorted
out of a concern for triggering a
others to local service providers.
hostile crowd reaction or being
But the campers were soon back
second-guessed.
in full force, followed again by police who repeatedly arrested and
That’s the theory that police are increasingly reluctant to engage in assertive policing in the face of growing community hostility
cited several campers. The cycle appears to be repeating itself. On a recent Tuesday night, 40 homeless advocates testified at a city council meeting, an increasingly common occurrence. Meanwhile, the hacker group Anonymous posted several YouTube videos warning the city that if it did not place a moratorium on enforcement of its anti-camping ordinance, Anonymous would deploy its resources, presumably to disrupt
BIG SPIKE IN VIOLENT CRIME RATE? CALL A MEETING
So what’s been the city’s response to the sharp increase in violent crime in Sacramento? Well, Mayor Kevin
the city’s website as it recently did in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Finally, the city issued an advisory
Johnson issued a press release on Oct.
to residents of the Pocket area on
So the gruesome numbers are in:
10 calling for an “immediate meeting
Jan. 10 that, due to the presence of
Murders in Sacramento last year were
with police leaders.” Four days later,
elevated levels of coliform bacteria
up 52 percent over the year before,
he met with police chief Sam Somers
discovered in local wells, they should
rapes were up 29 percent, robberies
for 45 minutes for what was dubbed
boil their tap water before drinking
were up 21 percent and aggravated
a “productive meeting.” No major
or cooking with it. According to city
assaults were up 24 percent, matching
actions or initiatives were announced.
staff, it was the first time in city
similar major increases in violent
I sat down recently with Timothy
history such an advisory was issued.
crime in a number of America’s
Davis, the newly elected president
According to our city sources, the
largest, most ethnically diverse cities.
of the Sacramento Police Officers
highly localized contamination was
Why the sudden spike in violent crime
Association, for a wide-ranging
likely the result of a pipe break
in Sacramento and other big cities
discussion of the city’s spike in violent
caused by city contractors working
following years of steady decline?
crime, a possible Ferguson Effect,
on the city’s water meter project. The
There is never a simple explanation
the Police Department’s recruitment
advisory was lifted two days later.
for major short-term gyrations in the
challenges, the city’s newly formed
crime rate, but a number of crime
Community Police Commission, police
analysts and nationally recognized
compensation and other issues. Eye
law enforcement officials, including
on Sacramento (the watchdog group
the directors of both the FBI and the
that I head) is also taking a close look
DEA, have recently attributed a good
at recent police statistics, including
portion of the blame to what’s being
arrest numbers for last year, to
called the Ferguson Effect.
see if there are tangible signs of
Craig Powell is a local attorney, businessman, community activist and president of Eye on Sacramento, a civic watchdog and policy group. He can be reached at craig@ eyeonsacramento.org or 718-3030. n
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