Police at the scene threatened to arrest the journalist if he didn’t leave. Of course, the journalist was the last person that needed to be threatened by police. Perhaps the police should have threatened the assemblyman and compelled him to acknowledge .
Several things I’ve learned through , our weekly Twitter conference on Freedom of Information issues, come to mind. First, video cameras will bring out the worst in public officials and their staff as far as secrecy goes. But few will object to, or notice, a voice recorder. For many reasons, video is far superior to just voice recording, but it is better than nothing. Second, the fact that Mike Gatto is acting like a diva is a story in itself. If this were a special on VH1, it would be understandable why he wouldn’t want unexpected cameras. But as an elected official, paid by taxpayer money, he has no right to exclude journalists (and thereby exclude his constituents) from public meetings. This is a story on it’s own right, and had he let the journalist in the meeting, the journalist probably wouldn’t have found anything as worthy of reporting as Gatto’s power trip.
Lastly, people are becoming a part of government accountability, and officials should embrace this and learn to work with citizens instead of trying to push us out. We’ve talked about the benefits to governments and citizens alike to . Officials can benefit by having justifications for their decisions available and they can also see a decrease in . The benefits to citizens are obvious.
It won’t work to keep us out, we’re already in. Officials need to get with the times and include us in the conversation, or suffer the wrath of informed citizens.
[...] outrage that came after citizens discovered that elected officials in Bell, California were making six-figure salaries. In a city of 40,000, this is especially [...]
[...] salaries. The outrage wasn’t simply about a misuse of funds. It was about breaking the peoples’ trust. If, for example, you buy a product and later find out it cost much less to produce, there is maybe [...]
[...] but says it didn’t know the law at the time. This actually seems sincere. Other instances of citizens and reporters being kicked out of public meetings make it clear that the guilty parties either [...]
One problem with your silly column.
Mursurlian is not a journalist. He was interviewed by the Glendale New Press regarding the matter. He said nobody pays him. Fact is, no new paper or news channel has ever paid him to get a story.
Muruserlain is a bitter pathetic stalker. He is creepy. He is angry that his candidate lost.
Nobody in their right mind would let that troll set up a camera. He violated the rules of the library and it was the library that threw him out, not Gatto.
Enjoy repeating your lies.
“Justplainfedup,” I was using the information in the video where he was described as a journalist. Regardless, “creeps” are taxpayers and, as such, have a right to be in public places and public meetings, and the fact that he was kicked out is egregious. What exactly are you fed up about?
You really ought to check your facts Ms. Lopez. This story is a HOAX. The “journalist” is a creep, who has broken into the HOME of a Congressman. He refused to get a permit to bring tons of electrical and video equipment into the town hall. All other media did. The Library kicked him out, not Gatto. And only after he threatened a state staffer, who is seeking a restraining order. So again, you REALLY ought to check your facts.
The value of videos is that they don’t lie. The man who kicked out the “creep” was not a representative of the library and could have handled the situation differently. The video clearly shows those who kick him out resorting to asking for permits after they’ve told him he has to leave without justification.
The only people with your view are in comments of similar blog posts, which is legitimate, but I can’t check my facts against blog comments. Again, “creeps” don’t have separate laws. Open meeting laws don’t have a clause that says “Oh, but no creeps.” If you write something that addresses the video as a hoax, I’d be happy to write about it and correct this post. But your points that “he’s a creep” and that the library kicked him out don’t have support, as of yet.