Mayor Ed Lee willing to disclose work calendar

02.15.11 - 5:43 pm | Rebecca Bowe |

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Mayor Ed Lee says he will let the sun shine in on his working calendar.

Photo by Rebecca Bowe

Among the many issues that rankled progressives under Mayor Gavin Newsom's administration was Newsom's unwillingness to turn over his work calendar to members of the public who formally requested it. Beginning in 2006, a group of sunshine activists routinely submitted public-information requests for the mayor's daily schedule in hopes of finding out who Newsom was meeting with, what events he attended, and just how he spent his time on the job as mayor of San Francisco. After years of battle, Newsom finally agreed to release a watered-down calendar containing very little information.

On this matter, it does not seem as if Interim Mayor Ed Lee will follow in the footsteps of his predecessor.

In an interview with Guardian reporters today, Mayor Lee indicated that he would be willing to make his calendar available to the public. "Sure," he said when we asked him about it. "I have no problem with that."

Lee noted that he has complied with similar requests in the past. "I've had those already reviewed as the City Administrator, so I'm used to it," Lee said.

He added that while he was willing to share his work-related calendar, "I may not want to share where I privately go every night."

That's OK. Thanks to former Mayor Willie Brown, we already know Lee went out to dinner in North Beach the other night with Brown, Rose Pak, and several others.

Comments

Mayor Lee's calendar

Actually he is required to say where he goes in the evening too if it relates to City Business. And what about phone calls, Instant messages, email, Text Messages? They are effectively meetings too and must be documented and Preserved under 67.29-7. He can thank Willie Brown for all this who tried to duck transparency - these provisions in Prop G Sunshine were specifically designed to address Brown's insistence on verbal only meetings.

SEC. 67.29-5. CALENDARS OF CERTAIN OFFICIALS.

The Mayor, The City Attorney, and every Department Head shall keep or cause to be kept a daily calendar wherein is recorded the time and place of each meeting or event attended by that official, with the exclusion of purely personal or social events at which no city business is discussed and that do not take place at City Offices or

*at the offices or residences of people who do substantial business with or are otherwise substantially financially affected by actions of the city*

For meetings not otherwise publicly recorded, the calendar shall include a general statement of issues discussed. Such calendars shall be public records and shall be available to any requester three business days subsequent to the calendar entry date.

SEC. 67.29-7. CORRESPONDENCE AND RECORDS SHALL BE MAINTAINED.

(a) The Mayor and all Department Heads shall maintain and preserve in a professional and businesslike manner all documents and correspondence, including but not limited to letters, e-mails, drafts, memorandum, invoices, reports and proposals and shall disclose all such records in accordance with this ordinance.

SEC. 67.29-1. RECORDS SURVIVE TRANSITION OF OFFICIALS.

All documents prepared, received, or maintained by the Office of the Mayor, by any elected city and county official, and by the head of any City or County Department are the property of the City and County of San Francisco. The originals of these documents shall be maintained consistent with the records retention policies of the City and County of San Francisco.

Posted by Kimo Crossman on Feb. 16, 2011 @ 5:57 pm