Have you all been following the lies out of the mayor's office regarding the Water Department? Alex Ruiz, Assistant Director of the Water Department was caught in several lies when questioned about the City's plan for water conservation and mandatory rationing. Taking the next step in reporting on these lies; the Voice of San Diego asked for e-mails related to the issue through a Public Records Request. Two and a half months after making the request, the City provided a partial list and refused to say how many were withheld and why.
Then the lies begin in earnest. When questioned as to how many were redacted or withheld, Ray Palmucci of the City Attorney's office said he would provide a letter of explanation in 10 days. Darin Pudgil ignored e-mails asking for this information and Palmucci sidestepped the issue feigning ignorance. The City provided 736 e-mails related to the Water issue, but withheld 692 e-mails (48%). So the question raised from this is what is the City trying to cover up? Why is Darin Pudgil refusing to respond to a legal mandate for a Public Records Request that by law is required to be completed within 10 days unless there is some exigent reason for being unable to do so. But again; what is the mayor trying to keep from the public now?
Christina DiLeva, "Press Assistant" for the mayor, wrote a letter citing Government Code sections allowing for the City to withhold e-mails and provide no explanation. So the mayor throws another underling under the bus while Darin Pudgil and Gerry Braun hide in a side office, refusing to accept responsibility for this mess.
The mayor's office provides an excuse for refusing to release all of the e-mails with the following comment; "the public interest served by not making the record public clearly outweighs the public interest served by disclosure of the record." Who wants to take a stab at what in the hell would be contained in e-mails discussing water conservation; the Irvine Ranch Water District approach to water conservation; and the City plan for conservation that the public interest is better served keeping 48% of the e-mails secret?
Lani Lutar, President and CEO of the San Diego County Taxpayers Association, made a keen observation about the mayor's office refusing to release these e-mails. Lutar said, "The speculation of what's in the emails is going to be so much worse than what's probably in them. It doesn't seem to make sense. I'm concerned from a good governance perspective why information would not be made available to the public." Maybe more lies?
In the span of a couple of months, people are starting to demand proof when the mayor or any of his minions speak about issues. In short order the taxpayers will begin to see firsthand the lack of honesty, integrity and ethics in the mayor's office on the 11th floor of the City Administration Building (CAB). I said a couple of weeks ago the lies would soon catch up with the mayor as they did when he was chief.
The 64 thousand dollar question; will he bail from the mayor's office like he bailed from the police department? We can all hope!!!
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