Council has trouble talking straight about talking straight
This week's column.
Whatever happened to the regular news conferences the City Council planned several months ago in a quest for more glasnost at City Hall?
The weekly confabs, suggested and generally embraced at the council's retreat, way back in January, seemed to go away before they ever came. More than half a year later, not one single such meeting with the press has been held.
What's up with that?
When asked about the mysterious disappearance two weeks ago, the city's communication director, Pat Boswell, said she didn't know. There were training sessions and a designated first date, Boswell said.
"That was the last I heard. I was never told to schedule one."
One council member privately suggested that enough people probably decided they didn't want to do the news conferences, so they didn't.
But City Manager Mitchell Johnson says that's not how it happened. Not only were council members trained on the finer points of dealing with the media, he said, but they were paired in an eight-person rotation. (Councilwoman T. Dianne Bellamy-Small refused to participate.)
Johnson says the first news conference was to feature Mayor Keith Holliday and another council member, but scheduling conflicts arose. Then it was to feature Mike Barber and Yvonne Johnson. More conflicts.
The process ultimately dragged into election season, Mitchell Johnson said. The council then chose to temporarily shelve the press conferences, he said, so as not to give the incumbent members who are running for re-election unfair exposure over their challengers.
How honorable — and convenient.
"I think they want to do it," Johnson insisted. "There's nothing draconian about it. It was more a matter of the best-laid plans of mice and men."
Truth be told, weekly news conferences probably weren't all that practical or necessary anyway. There would likely have not been a lot to talk about on some weeks.
Still, there would have been value to at least periodic Q&A's to explain city policies or to expand on recent decisions in council meetings — for instance the council's thinking following an especially sensitive or hotly contested zoning decision.
Or the pros and cons of the proposed annexation that's likely to attract a packed house at Tuesday's meeting.
Or the rampant myths and legends surrounding the police department and the ongoing SBI investigation of possible wrongdoing by some officers.
Then there's the simple matter of doing what you said you were going to do. Announcing news conferences that never materialize is not exactly the best way to engender trust and credibility. And rightly or wrongly, elected officials rated poorly in trust in the most recent "social capital" survey of city residents.
Remember, this is the same council that announced it would respond in some way to the Truth and Reconciliation report, then backed out. Whether it agreed with their recommendations or not, the council should have told those citizens something.
As for the police issue, it only raises the stakes, and it places the council in an understandably awkward position.
Johnson said the press conferences probably will resurface as monthly affairs. He also said this council desperately wants to communicate and that he and council members have been utterly frustrated at not being able to say more about the police investigation.
"There's nobody that wants to tell more about this than me," he said.
Johnson said council members have even gone a step further and expressed interest in a televised call-in show. Now that could be interesting.
The council's appetite for openness will be tested in earnest when the SBI investigation finally concludes.
The city should place all the information it reasonably can in the open. In fact, if the council does err, it should be on the side of saying too much.
It is one thing to talk about transparency. It's quite another to let your actions make that statement.
Comments (2)
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Allen,
Thanks for your insightful observations -- you raise some good questions.
I have added my "two-cents worth" over on my blog at --
http://sandycarmany.blogspot.com/2007/09/council-press-conferences.html
Posted on September 16, 2007 12:14 PM
Thanks, Sandy. I'll take a look at your blog and respond. Have a good Sunday.
Posted on September 16, 2007 12:18 PM