News-Record.com

This issue threatens to become irresolvable. The battle lines are drawn. Both sides have retreated to traditional stereotypic postures which have been allowed to fill the vacum created by the lack of actual facts. This lead to speculation, hysteria and an attempt to fill the vacum with creations like the Bledsoe series and the counter by Yes Weekly, and was also contributed to by the daily newspaper, the N&R, being out of the loop because of their alienation of one of the principals early on in the fray by seemingly taking sides.

This vacum was created by both ineptitude and lack of leadership by Council and City Admin as well as systemic problems/legal mumbo-jumbo such as disclosure laws and interpretation of such.

The new council has to clean house. The stereotypes must be shattered and race-brokerage as an occupation has to be repudiated by everyone on both sides.

Doug,
There is another part of the story missing.
Council members asked to see this book and were told no.
N&R reports the next day that council was shown the book during late night closed session.
Who orchestrated the showing of the book?
Was this executed by city manager and possibly in a one sided fashion as claimed by Seth Cohen?
Why would pictures be shown without the available explanation of how the book was produced?
If this was an attempt to mislead council I hope the N&R pursues the matter.

Amen Skeet! But moving on before all of the past abuses of power are addressed and resolved to the publics satisfaction is not going to happen. The GPD had been shattered and City Hall is acting like a besieged camp. More important, neither one can garner any trust or faith from any segment of the population no matter if the individual is in either Wray Fray camp, neutral or just doesn't care.

Showing pages of pictures of black men with no documented explanation of what it was the City Council members were supposed to be looking at was absolutely stupid on the part of City Manager Mitch Johnson and acting/consulting/sweetheart deal recipient/former City Attorney Linda Miles. But then stupidity seems to be their operational mode, and with all the practice they have had they have gotten quite good at it.

Council member Sandra Groat said it all about the black book: "We only see what evidence Coman (Senior Deputy Attorney General Jim Coman), the city legal department or the city manager chooses to show us or tell us."

Certainly, in closed session, the city manager should have been forthright in telling council members about the existence of separate materials that create context for the black book - if that is indeed the case. If attorney Seth Cohen's information about the black book turns out to be correct, this can only bode ill for our city manager and city attorney. If crucial information was withheld in the presentation of the black book photos to council members in closed session, that fact takes on deeply serious tones.

I wonder what particular information associated with the black book is considered by Coman to be potential evidence in his case against one or both of the defendants.

I understand there can be circumstances when a prosecutor's desire to keep evidence out of the public realm until trial should be respected. A defense attorney might seek to release information that would serve his client's interest.

Doug, the SBI would have no jurisdiction over any EEOC cases. If the black book is related to any "criminal investigations" which the EEOC also does not prosecute, it would be Sanders or Fox.

Once again, we aren't getting it straight.

Factional, splintered press, coupled with ineffectual splintered central gov't = Banana republic.

Welcome to Guilfordia.