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Uploaded: Tuesday, February 26, 2013, 8:21 AM
Menlo Park deletes emails posted about gymnastics teacher
Emails sent to public city council log removed from city's website
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by Sandy Brundage
Almanac Staff
The gymnastics uproar left parents questioning the legalities of the city erasing emails sent to the council, and what role the City Council played in Michelle Sutton's termination and the deletions.
Not much, as it turns out. "I have received a number of emails from residents in the past week, who seem to be under this misconception that I and my colleagues on council had something to do with Ms. Sutton's dismissal," Councilman Ray Mueller told the Almanac. "Frankly, the matter is a personnel matter that was handled by city management. While it is true I returned a phone call from a resident who called me wishing to register a complaint, beyond receiving the complaint, I did not measure its merits, nor measure whether any disciplinary action was necessary."
As for the city's decision to delete the emails: Mr. Mueller asked that anyone concerned about any part of this issue write directly to his council account at rdmueller@menlopark.org. "I will collect them all, I will not delete them, and I will give them to the city manager," he said.
Whether the city even has legal standing to destroy the emails remains questionable.
"It's ludicrous," said Jim Ewert, legal counsel for the California Newspaper Publishers Association. "They've taken the phrase 'tortured logic' to a new level."
State law requires that records be kept a minimum of two years. In addition, he said, "these are just comments; it's as if these individuals are petitioning the government to influence a decision."
In other words, it's just like what happens at every council meeting when a member of the public comments. The remarks are saved for posterity in the form of minutes and video recordings, which are archived on the city's website.
Even if the emails contained confidential personnel information -- which Mr. Ewert disputes -- "they're immune from (a defamation lawsuit) because these are privileged publications in the scope and course of a public hearing, if you will."
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Posted by Brian, a resident of the Menlo Park: The Willows neighborhood, on Feb 26, 2013 at 5:00 pm The messages in question are available from Google's cache, here:
Web Link
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Posted by Menlo Voter, a resident of the Menlo Park: other neighborhood, on Feb 26, 2013 at 6:50 pm [Post removed. Please avoid personal attacks.]
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Posted by Menlo Voter, a resident of the Menlo Park: other neighborhood, on Feb 27, 2013 at 7:28 am
Menlo Voter is a member (registered user) of Almanac Online I said one thing that could be classed as an attack. You should have only deleted that part. I also noted that only the original letter from the complaining parents come up with the link. I also noted that these parents sound like prototypical helicopter parents. I'd hardly call that an attack. It's an observation and opinion. It's really too bad these parents felt they had to write a letter to the mayor. It's also too bad they don't sem to think the rules should apply to them. They're "special" I guess. Especially when a phone call to the parks and rec director probably would have taken care of their issue. Instead they write a letter and create a firestorm and make themselves look like whining fools. Not an attack - observation and opinion. If the parents aren't happy with the community's anger and opinion of them right now, they should have thought about it before they sent their letter.
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Posted by Hmmm, a resident of another community, on Feb 27, 2013 at 9:28 am
Hmmm is a member (registered user) of Almanac Online MV - you mean you didn't attack the helicopter mom & her helicopter spouse? No, you didn't. They created this mess. I wonder if they're happy that they've contributed to the unemployment line? Are they satisfied that they got rewarded as rule breakers? Is this the Menlo where I grew up? Menlo's becoming to much like Palo Alto, both its govt & its residents.
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Posted by Menlo Voter, a resident of the Menlo Park: other neighborhood, on Feb 27, 2013 at 7:58 pm
Menlo Voter is a member (registered user) of Almanac Online Hmmm:
[Post removed. Please don't use Town Square to make assumptions about named people's motivations and attitudes, or to assume that they belong to a particular group or are a particular "type" of person.]
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