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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us March 1, 2005 Phoenix mayor shuts down media access to all offcials By Robert Plain Ashland Daily Tidings Phoenix Mayor Vicki Bear has barred all town employees and elected officials from discussing city business with the local media. On Monday, she sent an e-mail to the Daily Tidings explaining a new process "in delivering information to the public." "Recently the City Council and I went over how the City wishes to discuss matters with the media and it was decided that there should be one contact person for the media," her e-mail said. "The Council decided that, as Mayor, it would make the most sense to have myself as that contact person." One councilor, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that this directive was not put up for a vote or discussed in a public meeting. Four of the five acting city councilors were contacted about the no-talk order and each said they would abide by her directive, for now. Bear said her directive extends to city employees, as well as elected officials. "Please refrain from contacting Department heads or employees as they will not be commenting on issues unless given directive from my office," the e-mail said. One city employee reached yesterday said they would have to respect the order given by the mayor. Another said that had not yet been apprised of the directive. Bear's e-mail was received by The Tidings within one hour of a scheduled meeting between a reporter and a city planner concerning the regional problem-solving process. When the reporter attempted to keep the appointment, Bear sent a subsequent e-mail that restated her request. "I want to be clear about my intentions here, very clear," she wrote. "When I said that there is a contact person for media that is exactly what I mean. That doesn't mean that you turn around and contact the City's planning dept. regarding RPS information." In her first e-mail, she laid out the process by which she would like the city of Phoenix to be contacted for public comment. "Please direct any questions to my attention, you have my e-mail address as well as my cell phone number," she wrote. "Should I be unavailable I will let you know that I will be turning over the responsibilities of media contacts to the City Council President, Mr. Carlos DeBritto, who will be notified that he will be the contact person. Should both myself and the Council President not be available the Council Vice-president, Mr. Dean Martin, shall be notified." Jim Naureckas, an editor with FAIR, a national media watchdog group, said such a tactic would not be in the best interest of the residents of Phoenix. "It's a bad idea," he said. "It creates the illusion that there is only one point of view. The public has a right to get a variety of viewpoints from their government. If there are a variety of people discussing the issues, it is more likely the public will get a better idea of what is going on." He said the free press is an important "check in our political system." He added, "If you have only one person talking to the media, it is much easier to cover up corruption. With more than one person on the record, it is much harder to cover up a story or silence whistle-blowers." He also said that a government has no right to take away the First Amendment rights of its employees. "You don't sign away your first amendment rights because you accept a paycheck from a local government." DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Free Musick Downloads Slippers Women's & Men's Slippers Ceramic Piggy Banks heloc Calenders 2005 Calender 2005 Accelerate Weightloss Products Memory Foam Mattress tcg student loan consolidation home equity loans teleconferencing W2 Forms cortisol weight loss Tatoos website design & marketing student loans African Safari Conference Calls - $50/Month Security Systems diamonds Currancy Exchange Online Casinos Community Student Loans Tatoo Poker Games Homeschooling Click Here .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams