http://tracypress.com/content/view/8746/2/

(snip)

Councilwoman Tucker has likewise used a private e-mail account to conduct
public business. Unlike the folks at the White House, she had no
alternative, as the city did not offer official e-mail accounts to the
council members until February. But similarly to the Bush officials, she is
trying to incorrectly use the "private" shield to hide things to which the
public rightly has access.

Tucker has conducted business concerning her role as a councilwoman and
liaison with Tracy Tomorrow and Beyond through this e-mail account. Now she
and the city claim the e-mails are exempt from California Public Records Act
requests. Unfortunately for her defense, it doesn't matter if the
communication was sent from a private e-mail account; what matters is that
the councilwoman was acting in her capacity as a public official to alter
the outcome of a public event.

Documents already received from the Department of Energy and the National
Nuclear Security Administration demonstrate clearly that Livermore lab
officials — especially those on Oct. 24, 2006, who asked Tucker to "affect
change" on a planned public forum — were seeking her help as a public
official. Just because they went to and from a private e-mail account
doesn't exempt them from public scrutiny.

Steven Hensen, past president of the Society of American Archivists and
technical director of Duke University's archives, has said, "It clearly
looks like an attempt to conceal official business." He was talking about
the White House shenanigans, but he might as well have been talking about
the city of Tracy's refusal to offer up transcripts of the Press-requested
e-mails.

-- 
Larry Medina
Danville, CA
RIM Professional since 1972

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