Simple way to resolve crime info dispute

June 14, 2006

EDITOR: When something takes place in the political world that looks bad to me, sometimes it's because I don't understand both sides of the issue. But sometimes, it's wise to go by that old political maxim: If it looks like a duck, and it walks like a duck, and it quacks like a duck, chances are it's a duck.

The issue of the Petaluma Police Department and the city attorney failing in their duty to keep the public adequately informed is a prime example of a web-footed water fowl. This is wrong in so many ways:

1. The fact that the police department is not providing this information in a concise and timely manner is wrong.

2. The statement by the chief that giving newspapers standard police blotter information now costs the city $120,000 per year is, in fact, an admission that a huge amount of money has been wasted. That's wrong.

3. The fact that the police department is demanding that newspapers submit a specific request for each incident is wrong.

4. The fact that the city attorney is spending ungodly amounts of money to examine each of those requests, and then classify them as confidential, is wrong.

5. The wholesale lack of political leadership from the City Council is wrong. Example A: Only in a through-the-looking-glass world could the incredible waste of money on the part of the department and the city attorney be construed as either legitimate or as a "benefit" to the newspaper. Example B: The statements by many of the council members, that on the one hand, this money could be used better elsewhere, but on the other hand, the public deserves to be well-informed. To paraphrase Lyndon Johnson, bring me one-handed politicians! Example C: Now we have a scheduled session of the City Council to seek public input, on an issue that should have been disposed of in five minutes by the council members we hired to take care of such things.

In the overall scheme of things, politicians prefer complicated answers. I don't think I can make this complicated enough for them. City Council, here are the two steps you need to take to resolve this problem. This is pretty simple, so listen up.

1. Instruct your chief of police to issue concise, inexpensive and timely police blotter information to any newspaper that requests it. Don't even spend one minute telling him how. This department has done this for over 100 years. They know how.

2. Instruct your city attorney that if he spends one more minute or submits one more bill in this ridiculous effort to keep the public in the dark, it'll cost him his job.

There. You've now returned this mess to the non-issue file, where it belongs. Now you can get back to real issues that matter to Petaluma.

PHIL GROSSE, Petaluma