A letter to the Council, signed by 4 former MP Mayors, (Schmidt, Robinson, Borak and Morris) was sent to the Council and is copied below.
link: (contains other links to documentation for the letter)
http://ccin.menlopark.org:81/10352.html
From: domain removed <Steve>
Date: Mon, 18 May 2015 20:21:45 -0700
To: City Council
Re: City Manager Contract, Agenda item CL-2
Please consider the following concerns before voting on the renewal of the
City Manager’s contract.
Alex McIntyre hired a political consultant (Malcolm Smith) and signed a
contract and worked with Smith from March 3, 2014 through August 2014 without
advising any council member. The council’s only authorization regarding
Measure M was to hire Lisa Wise Associates to analyze the terms of the
Initiative.
Alex McIntyre admitted to the Palo Alto Daily Post and the Almanac that he
violated the City’s document rentention ordinance when he threw away
documents created by the hired political consultant.
For three months Alex McIntyre withheld documents requested through a
Public Records Request by a former council member. As of today, the City
continues to withhold documents requested via the California Public Records
Act.
Alex McIntyre strategically chose October 31, 2014, four days before the
election as the day to produce Malcolm Smith invoices to the City. Only
then did the Council and the public learn of the hiring of Malcolm Smith.
Alex McIntyre again strategically chose November 5, 2014 the day after the
election to produce the March 5, 2014 contract with Smith and a March 19,
2014 Amended Scope of Work.
Alex McIntyre produced an Amended Scope of Work to Smith’s Contract dated
March 19, 2014 that was not signed by any employee of the City or Malcolm
Smith despite the expressed requirement in the March 3, 2014 (#11 *Merger
Clause*, "*All subsequent modifications shall be in writing and signed by
the City.")*
If Smith did agree to the reduced March 19 Addendum Scope of Work, why did
he continue to perform work *(letters to editors, create strategy, create
content for Almanac Online, draft opinion pieces, write op-ed pieces,
create "fact of Week" documents)* as described in the earlier March 5
contract?
Why did the City Staff permit Smith to perform work not in the Amended
March 19 Scope of Work?
Why did the City pay Smith for work McIntyre claims he rejected because
said work was *“a full on campaign, inappropriate, overreaching and
unnecessary?*
The City has refused to produce what it perceives as "draft" work product
by Malcolm Smith. However, the City Council has the authority to require
Smith to produce his "drafts" to the Council so the Council may understand
the nature of the work for which Smith was paid. It is clear that Smith’s
work product clearly met the description in the executed March 5 Scope of
Work.
Also attached to this email is Alex McIntyre’s email to Heyward Robinson on
Nov 5, 2014, one day after Measure M lost. Only then did McIntyre produce
the March 5 Contract and Exhibit A between the City and Smith plus the
March 19, 2014 Addendum Scope of Work. This delay shows a clear intention
to stonewall Mr. Robinson until a time when Measure M would be settled. In
August 2014 Robinson began his requests for documents under the California
Public Records Act, months before McIntyre revealed the fact he hired a
consultant.
It is implausible that Malcolm Smith would ignore the March 19 Addendum
Scope of Work and perform the very tasks outlined in the March 3 Scope of
work.
It is implausible that the City would work with Smith for the entire
campaign season and pay invoices for work that was as McIntyre told the
Palo Alto Daly News, “overreaching and a full on Campaign." There is a
question of McIntyre's integrity that the Council should not ignore.
Jack Morris, Former Mayor of Menlo Park
Heyward Robinson, Former Mayor of Menlo Park
Mary Jo Borak, Former Mayor of Menlo Park
Steve Schmidt, Former Mayor of Menlo Park
