Contempt for Open Government

Stonewalling and foot-dragging are standard operating procedure.

In 2013 the Commission voted/approved terminating videotaping and broadcasting public meetings
In 2013 the Commission voted/approved limiting a commissioners speaking time at board meetings
In 2013 the Commission voted/approved a requirement that commissioners can only place items on a future agenda after receiving a majority vote of the board
Management plays hide the ball with Public Records Act requests
Commission rubber stamps staff recommendations
In an effort to preserve his fiefdom the General Manager lied about the cost to relocate the Harbor District administrative office and got caught
In 2012 and 2013 Commissioners Will Holsinger, Jim Tucker and Pietro Parravano refused to provide contact info on Harbor District website
In 2013 Will Holsinger made a motion to instruct the Harbor District's law firm/Jean Savaree to "investigate" Commissioner Brennan's contact information on the Harbor District's website. The board voted 4/1 in favor of the investigation. The investigation determined that Commissioner Brennan's contact information was acceptable and should not be removed. Will Holsinger was unhappy with the conclusion and responded by calling Jean Savaree's legal work into question. In response to Will Holsinger's criticism and his continued requests for investigations Jean Savaree's law firm informed the Harbor Commissioners that they would not renew a long standing contract with the Harbor District. In March, 2014 Commissioners Will Holsinger, Pietro Parravano and Jim Tucker voted to authorize Harbor District General Manager Peter Grenell to contact State Legislators and the State Attorney General in an effort to remove Commission Brennan's contact information from the Harbor District website.

"The district's proposal to destroy records raised eyebrows because it followed several unusual occurrences over the past year, including the reported discovery last summer of $38,000 in checks from district tenants that had never been deposited and the board's decision in November to stop videotaping its meetings."

Aaron Kinney, Feb. 3, 2014

Whatever the rationale for replacing video with audio, the perception will be that commissioners are afraid of the light that comes with those cameras. Good politicians know better than to court that kind of perception.

Clay Lambert, Editor, Aug. 21, 2013

“This seems like an odd time for document destruction to be on our agenda,” Sabrina Brennan said. “It would be unseemly to go forward with this at this time.”

Mark Noack, Jan. 23, 2014