The Pub Hub

B. City Government
—City Council meeting reflection
City Gov. Function
—City Council differs depending on city size
1. City of Los Angeles
a. Split into 15 districts with a president
2. West Hollywood
a. Part-time council and mayor (approx. 5)
3. Azusa
a. Mayor and 4 other members
Local positions and responsibilities
1. Mayor: Oversees city council, sometimes in a roundtable way other times with veto power
2. Mayor Pro Tempore: City councilmember who is in charge in absence of mayor
3. City Council President: A higher position for larger cities
4. City Councilmember: proposes bills and passes laws in the city
5. Deputy Mayor: Glorified office manager, stepping position or Pro Tempore
6. City Manager: oversees city departments, research and managerial
7. City Clerk: Person in charge of records
8. Cashier/Treasurer: money, funding, budgets, and paychecks
9. Public Information Officer: PR representative
Common city issues
1. Advertising banners
2. Land development
3. Zoning
4. Streetlights and maintenance
5. Bike laws
6. Water use
7. Waste (Grocery bags)
C. County Government
Characteristics
1. More private
2. Bigger role in rural areas, more bookkeepers in major cities
3. Receive authority through state legislature
4. Hold records
a. Property
b. Marriages & divorce
c. Driver’s licenses
d. Auto licenses
5. Function as legislative, executive and judicial
6. Make decisions whenever quorum is present
Positions
1. County auditor: financial officer or controller
2. County recorder: oversees records
3. Treasurer: collects and disperses money
4. Sheriff
5. Coroner
6. Prosecutor
D. Approaching taxes
Offices to go through
1. Assessor: appraises homes, businesses and property
2. Auditor: organizes budget
3. Governing board: sets tax rates
4. Treasurer: collects taxes and disburses them to other units of gov.
Tax exempt
1. Churches
2. Schools
3. Public college
4. Nonprofit hospitals
IV. Public records
1. There is no “right to know”
2. Freedom of information laws
3. Getting access requires working with potentially hostile people
What’s Public?
1. Property tax of areas; courthouses
2. Criminal records; PD
3. Standardized school test performances; school district
4. Development plans; city or county offices
a. Six-year road plans
b. Parks plans
c. New construction; planning department at city hall
d. Comprehensive plans; city and county offices
Freedom of Information Act
1. Gov. documents public unless good reason
2. Respond w/i 20 days
3. Some access could take years
4. Time could be a problem
Exemptions
1. National security
2. Internal agency rules
3. Statutory exemption (another exemption)
4. Internal agency memoranda
5. Personal privacy
6. Law enforcement records
7. Bank reports
8. Oil and gas well data
State records guidelines
1. Public records: any “recording” by a public agency
2. Free unless copied
3. Usually a week after request
4. Exemptions for taxpayer confidentiality
Request records
1. Prepare, paperwork and law knowledge
2. Be specific
3. Show up, no email or phone calls
4. Be nice but confident: nothing to hide
5. Submit in writing
6. Have money for copies
7. Follow-up insures people to listen to you
8. Keep fighting
Bluffs
1. Know how to respond (pg95)
2. Make them prove it
3. Go over their head
4. Get help
5. Tell the public (journalist bone to pick)
6. Sue
7. Stay calm and fight back
Chapter tips
1. Don’t expect cops to do the work for you
a. Do your own research
2. Police have other duties as well
a. Be respectful of time
b. Make things easy for them
3. Communicate mistakes before they go to print
4. Know state law about release info
5. Be respectful despite turned down requests
6. Crime reporters can experience same trauma as police and firefighters
Story ideas
1. Department functions
2. Crime trends
3. Success stories
Tips for Covering Cops
—Stephen Buckley
1. Cops are human, too, Part 1
a. Get to know them; call when they’re in the hospital
b. Show up during down times; give them something else to do
2. Always go to the scene, Part 1
a. Observe things for yourself
b. Find your own witnesses
c. Neighborhood: before and after
3. Never assume people don’t want to talk (Interview tips, pg227)
a. Sometimes people want to talk (for hours)
b. Much like venting or the need to let the public know
4. Spend time in neighborhoods
a. Emphasis on high crime areas
i. Saving children
ii. Drive out criminals
iii. People watching communities crumble
b. Get to know community activists and long time residents
i. Mothers
5. Cops are human, too, Part 2
a. Cover good stories about police too
6. Know different sections
a. Varying department sources
b. Go beyond major detectives
i. Vice squad
ii. Burglary section
iii. Robbery section
7. Look for patterns
a. Check the logs
b. Crime increases in areas
c. Be your own detective
8. Read police news in out-of-town papers
a. Crimes move in trends
b. Crime-fighting moves in waves
9. Cultivate clerks
a. Make friends with clerks and front-desk sergeants
b. Chat ‘em up and make ‘em lunch
c. Treat like homicide detectives
Sometimes they’ll tip you off