Transparency
trans·par·en·cy (tr
ns-p�r
n-s
, -pr-)n. pl. trans·par·en·cies
- A transparent object, especially a photographic slide that is viewed by light shining through it from behind or by projection.
- also trans·par·ence (-p�rns, -pr-) The quality or state of being transparent.
So guarded is the process that Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's appointees on the harbor commission, a group that prides itself on holding its meetings in the community, scheduled closed-door candidate interviews at City Hall in downtown Los Angeles, 26 miles north of the Harbor Area.
The commission gathered at City Hall shortly before 8 a.m. Monday, then immediately headed to a second location -- the Wilshire Grand Hotel -- leaving behind an empty room at City Hall, and no written notice that the meeting location had changed.
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Deputy Mayor Robert "Bud" Ovrom defended the use of the hotel, saying it was needed for catering and convenience, not secrecy.
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When a reporter approached one of the glass-paneled meeting rooms where the job candidates were waiting, port staffers closed the curtains.
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Once at the hotel, each participant in the interviews, including a seven-member citizen search committee picked by Villaraigosa, signed a confidentiality agreement promising not to discuss the deliberations.
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Harbor commissioner Jerilyn Lopez Mendoza said the port panel relied on the city attorney to determine how the agenda was written. But she argued that anyone who wanted to testify at City Hall had an opportunity shortly after 7:30 a.m.
"We had comment cards, the whole nine yards," she said.
Posted by Anonymous @ 11/15/2005 08:00:00 AM
7 Comments:
BUSTED! What are they hiding from?
Don't you get it? We didn't really mean that if we were in office we would actually really apply the ethical standards we accused the others of failing! We will instead require a form to show how we demand a high standard from our commisioners (though there's NOTHING new in the form) and form an ethics watchdog or two and self-proclaim our moral superiority. Heck, the public doesn't know the difference anyway!
There goes AV again... everything haas to be his way; his "vision"; and people who will be willing to cover up for him.
The culture of the Port never seems to change - it just gets handed down. If secrecy and deception are the values the Mayor is seeking, he might as well cut to the quick and select Stacey Jones or Bruce Seaton - two of the most dishonest public employees in LA city government.
Who they pick will be huge message to our communities, and the entire impacted region.
We are holding our breath, and waiting for the other shoe to.
drop.
Archie, no on has their head in anyone's ass. Ask MAV's staff if you don't believe it.
There is no slack or honeymoon on these issues for MAV or anybody else.
By the end of his 4 year term the public presure to fix this life threatening mess will be so intense that no politician will be able to ignore it.
I don't know where you live, but don't make the mistake of thinking that this is a harbor area issue. We are the front line sacrifices, but every man, woman, and especially child, in the South Coast Air Basin is at mortal risk.
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