Life Of Jason

In today’s Springfield News-Leader, the editorial saying that City Leaders Need To Stay Focused included this passage about City Clerk Brenda Cirtin:

“Chiles said the issue has gotten so serious that City Clerk Brenda Cirtin asked him to turn over e-mails pertaining to his sleuthing from his personal computer.”

OK, I can’t say I’ve been a professional journalist for two decades but I would think in a situation where you’re told this by a course…in this case Councilman Dan Chiles…that you would at least call the City Clerk and ask her about the situation. Did she really ask for the communications from his personal computer?

I spoke with Ms. Cirtin this afternoon and she informs me that no one from the Springfield News-Leader called her for confirmation, denial or explanation of that claim from Councilman Chiles.

That is inexcusable even if it is just an editorial piece. If you’re going to make claims that the city is trying to bully into silence a member of the City Council who is rattling a saber then you need to make sure your ducks are in a row.

I’m attaching a PDF of all the e-mail exchanges between Ms. Cirtin and Councilman Chiles for your consideration. If you don’t want to read through the whole exchange, this is the text of Ms. Cirtin’s first e-mail to Councilman Chiles:

Dan,

I’ve had a request from a citizen for information regarding the Square and any involvement you may have had in raising the question of its historic significance. To determine whether or not this is public record, I need to know the following:

Was any correspondence dealing with the square composed on your city-provided laptop?

Was any correspondence sent on your City letterhead?

Did you at any time, in written correspondence or by way of verbal communication, refer to yourself as a City Councilman?

If the response to any of the above questions is ‘yes’, then I will need a copy of any written correspondence, including e-mails, on this issue. Also, if there is no written correspondence, but there is verbal and you indicated that you were on City Council, then I will need a brief description of what communication there was, i.e., phone call, face-to-face, etc.

If you have any questions, please contact me.
Brenda M. Cirtin, MMC/MPCC
City Clerk
City of Springfield

I don’t see anywhere in that e-mail where she is asking him for communications from his personal computer but rather the computer given to him by the city for city business.  One could argue that she’s suggesting communications from his personal computer in the last section where she asks if he issued communication identifying himself as a City Council member…but in that case he is then acting as a City official and his communication is part of the public discourse.

While Councilman Chiles may have indeed said that to someone with the News-Leader it still should have at least been confirmed.  A simple call would have shown that Ms. Cirtin said nothing about Councilman Chiles’ personal computer records.

This is one of those times where I really get bothered by the fact there is no identification as to which member of the Springfield News-Leader wrote this editorial piece.  Clearly they dropped the ball in not confirming the information with Ms. Cirtin before making it appear to the public that she is trying to intimidate Councilman Chiles.  When I post on this blog, when other articles are written in the News-Leader, when things are voiced on a certain radio talk show at least the person making that report or opinion is identifiable and responsible for the accuracy of their reporting or opining.  We cannot get that same kind of accountability here because we simply don’t know who wrote the column.  It’s like someone who made an anonymous post on the internet with incorrect information…there’s no accountability.  (And didn’t several now-former News-Leader staffers write pieces taking people posting anonymous pieces on the internet to task?)

Look, I’m of the position I don’t think a City Council member should check their rights as a citizen at the door just because they took the oath of office.  I want passion, I want concern and I want them to strive to make a better community.  We’re all better off when the Council is seeking the best for the community as a whole.  Still, if they identify themselves as a City Council member then what they do becomes City business.  Sure, it’s hard not to realize when you’re talking to Gary Deaver or Doug Burlison or Denny Whayne or Ralph Manley that you’re talking with a City Council member but they’re also citizens and in my opinion have the right to act as such in their daily lives.

Still, Ms. Cirtin’s request was not unreasonable nor was it far reaching.  It certainly wasn’t intimidating on her part because she was simply trying to fulfill a Sunshine Law request from a citizen.  (Now, the citizen may have been trying to intimidate Councilman Chiles by asking for the information.  I’m fully open to that and would even think it could be likely.  Still, that doesn’t mean Ms. Cirtin was trying to intimidate anyone.)

I’m sure the friends I’ve had at the News-Leader are going to take me off their MySpace friends list after this column but I have to call it as I see it.  In this case, the News-Leader appears to have not done their follow-up to confirm the facts…even leaving a voice mail for her to return the call would have at least been a step in the right direction.

I’ve e-mailed the News-Leader for their response to Ms. Cirtin’s statement and providing the e-mails that contradict what they printed in today’s editorial.  When I receive it, I will post it here unedited.  I tried calling this afternoon to reach them and received only voice mail.   (The voice mail for the editorial staff said that “in honor of today’s holiday” they were closed.)