City Hall to Purge Emails Older Than a Year

Voice of San Diego reported that, temporary Mayor, Todd Gloria, plans to destroy public records by eliminating all City of San Diego email records older than one year old, under claims that their storage is too expensive and not financed in the current City budget.

City Hall to Purge Emails Older Than a Year

Update: Californians Aware, the government transparency advocacy group led by Terry Francke, may sue to stop the destruction of old emails. Francke sent a letter to city leaders today. Here’s an excerpt:

This policy contravenes existing law. Emails clearly fall within the definition of a public record. Government Code §6252(e). Further, city records are required to be retained for a minimum of two years. Government Code §34090 et seq. Destruction of public records may also be punishable criminally.

Therefore, we request that you immediately direct all city officials and staff to cancel the wholesale destruction of public records announced in your memorandum and that the City rescind or revise this and any other policy authorizing the wholesale destruction of city emails older than one year.

Due to the time-sensitive nature of this issue, we request that you respond confirming agreement to, at the very least, suspend this practice until we have had time to seek judicial intervention if necessary. However, if you do not respond confirming that there will be no purge of any public records by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, March 11, 2014, we will have no choice but to seek a injunction and writ of mandate ordering the City to cease the destruction of these public records in violation of the Government Code.

Media Roots - "Breaks the Set" with this Russian TV report.

MediaRoots.org

Pine Ridge, South Dakota, is the eighth largest Native American reservation in the U.S. and is home to the Oglala Sioux, one of the seven subtribes of the Lakota people. With gorgeous rolling hills and untamed wilderness, it’s no wonder why the land is held so sacred.

Yet, as beautiful as it is, Pine Ridge has been deemed one of capitalism’s ‘sacrifice zones,’ because the area has paid dearly for centuries of capitalist expansion and Western commercialization of natural resources.

Pine Ridge Reservation is the second poorest community in America, and its state of helplessness has led to mind boggling statistics that are more in line with third world countries than the richest nation on earth – there’s an unemployment and alcoholism rate of around eighty percent, an annual per capita income of four thousand dollars, eight times the rate of diabetes than the national average and three times the rate of infant mortality.

Much of the despair among the indigenous population of North America could be attributed to having never recovered from the West’s utter evisceration of their culture, forced destruction of their people and mass genocide against their ancestors. It also doesn’t help that there is nothing for miles outside of the reservation, limiting job opportunities for Pine Ridge residents.

However, despite the multitude of problems facing a community that depends on federal funding to survive, many Sioux members have taken it upon themselves to empower the Lakota nation to a secure a brighter future. It was a honor to spend several days at Pine Ridge, and I left greatly humbled and inspired by the people I met.

Breaking the Set dedicated two episodes to shed light on the neglected plight of America’s indigenous population to cover the failure by the federal government to provide adequate social services, uphold centuries old treaties, and to allow the sovereignty of Native American communities to prosper.

Breaking the Set sits down with Oglala Lakota Nation Tribal Council to discuss the current state of the reservation and the optimism the elders have about the future. Yvonne “Tiny” DeCory, an BEAR program advocate and youth activist, discusses her efforts to fight the growing suicide epidemic at Pine Ridge.

Pine Ridge Reservation Part II: From Broken Treaties To Future

Breaking the Set talks to Treaty Council Elder, Floyd Looks For Buffalo Hand, about the mentality of the West and the basic principles in which the Lakota people live by. Henry Red Cloud, 5th generation descendant of Chief Red Cloud, discusses renewable energy and its future on the reservation, as well as prophecies that need to be applied to the modern world in which we live.

Why they hate the USA

If I killed your family, what would you do? How long will you hold a grudge? Do you understand the concept of BLOWBACK? You can't kill people without a trial, without any charges. Drone technology is becoming cheap and ubiquitous, when every country has drones, we will see the consequences. You can't do terrorism then complain when they get drones and take out your leaders, too.

Cable Mergers and The Media 6

Everything Will Be Alright Episode 9: Project Censored

Project Censored is a Journalist Education Project from Arizona State University.
In the 'realm of concision' we can't have complex thoughts. Sober dialog and discourse is impossible with people who are incapable of listening due to brain damage. Deep focus is gone, and this will reach a crisis in the next generation. Citizen journalists need to develop trust among communities. Eliminate anonymity by speaking face to face, so that social consequences are imposed upon those who lack critical thinking and compassion. Fear is not a bad thing, courage is not the absence of fear, it is the acceptance of fear and the will to move forward.

iNewsSource nails it again on KPBS: Mayoral Candidate Finances (before the election)

inewssource.org

Sources:

1. state salaries posted online
2. glassdoor.com
3. most recently filed tax return
4. Tax returns
5. Faulconer’s 2012 Statement of Economic Interests
6. Faulconer's 2007 financial disclosure form 
7. Public records
8. Alvarez says he has no other sources of income, and his most recent economic disclosure form lists no investments
9. San Diego CityBeat reported an old roster from the yacht club lists Faulconer as the owner of a 19-foot powerboat named Everlasting Moon, 2008 Jeep Commander Hemi and 2003 Mercedes E320, house at 3330 Quimby Street in Point Loma.

How We Did It

• To determine if either candidate owned property in San Diego County, we started with theAssessor/Recorder’s Grantor-Grantee index. This website enables the public to search for property records by name and retrieve document numbers.
• Unfortunately, it doesn’t include information on the location of properties, mortgage amounts, or any other details. For all of that, we had to spend many hours in the San Diego County Assessor’s Office at 1600 Pacific Highway in San Diego.
• Trust deeds refer to loans on property--whether it’s a first, second or third mortgage, a line of credit or a refinance. There were also reconveyances, which usually mean a loan was paid off by the homeowners or another bank purchased it as part of a refinance. Lastly, there were records showing the couple had transferred the property between themselves and Faulconer’s trusts.
• With each home’s parcel number, which is listed on their trust deeds, we also found property details using SANDAG’s interactive maps.
• To see if the candidates or their spouses were currently listed on the boards of directors or as highest paid employees of nonprofit organizations, we used a new tool at CitizenAudit.org, which enables the public to search the most recent annual reports filed with the Internal Revenue Service. There were no matches.
• To find possible connections to publicly traded companies, such as positions on boards of directors, we used the Security and Exchange Commission’s full text search. It contains records filed during the past four years. We did not find any reference to either candidate or their wives, though the search for Alvarez was more tricky since his name is so common. The California Secretary of State also offers a similar records search online, and it also provided no matches.
• Since both candidates are currently on the City Council, they must file financial disclosure forms known as Form 700s. We reviewed these forms, which are available online at theCalifornia Fair Political Practices Commission.
• The most recent disclosure for Alvarez showed his wife earned between $10,000 and $100,000 working for Nativity Prep Academy in 2011. She is not listed as one of the highest paid employees on the nonprofit group’s tax filings, which we searched using the websiteGuideStar.com.
• Faulconer’s 2012 disclosure form showed he had up to $10,000 in stock invested in San Diego-based ImageWear Systems Inc., which has federal contracts and a partnership with a local defense contractor. Faulconer also reported his wife’s business, Restaurant Events Inc., an event planning company in downtown San Diego, brought in between $100,001 and $1 million in 2012.
• We searched for both candidates and their spouses in San Diego County Superior Court Records, which are available online.
• We also sent questionnaires to Faulconer and Alvarez asking them for the information printed here. We verified the information that was publicly available.