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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 8, 2005 Phoenix City Council cancels rule limiting media access By Robert Plain Ashland Daily Tidings Employees and politicians from Phoenix are free again to talk with the media as city councilors rescinded a "media contact" memo from the mayor to municipal employees and admonished her for doing so without their official approval. Mayor Vicki Bear apologized to the council at its Monday night meeting for issuing the employee policy without being instructed by them to do so. "Did I err in putting out this memo? Absolutely," she said. "I should have put it before the council first." However, she said she did not violate the city charter in doing so. She cited a letter from Paul Nolte, the special counsel for the League of Oregon Cities, that agreed with this opinion. "... I do not interpret what has been done as a violation of the charter," he wrote in an e-mail to Bear. "Motions are perhaps the more common way for a council to express an opinion, adopt or establish a policy or direct further action." Bear said she requested an independent legal opinion rather than that of Larry Kerr, the city attorney, because Kerr was busy working on other town business. In debating how to rectify the situation created by the media policy, several councilors read prepared statements. Dean Martin, the council vice president, said, "After reading the memo signed by Mayor Bear, I can understand why the media, city employees, and the citizens of Phoenix are up in arms. This 'media contact' memo, as written and signed by Mayor Bear, would have never been distributed in its current form, had it been reviewed by this entire council first. Freedom of speech is everyone's First Amendment right ... and I for one would have had no part in taking away anyone's right to free speech." Councilor Steven Schulman said, "In show business, they say any publicity, even bad, is good as long as they spell your name right. Unfortunately, the publicity this city is getting is not beneficial or good." Otto Caster, a councilor who has been absent throughout this issue, said, "I've been involved with this city for 35 years and nothing like this has ever come up before." Council President Carlos DeBritto, in a prepared statement said, "Except for confidential matters, all councilors and department heads are authorized and duty-bound to keep open lines of communication with the community and off-duty employees are free to do likewise." DeBritto also said, "Some of the news quotes attributed to me are things I never said. This is a problem I will be looking into resolving to my satisfaction." After the meeting, he said he could not recall "off the top of my head" which of his comments were printed in error. He did not ask a reporter for any retractions. Schulman introduced a motion at Monday's meeting that would have not only repealed the Bear's media policy memo and stipulate that she be the contact person only on a case by case basis, but also stated that "all department heads are authorized and somewhat obliged to keep open lines of communication with the community as long as it doesn't violate confidential material." The council instead voted unanimously to rescind Bear's memo dated Feb. 28 and the consensus decision the council came to on Jan. 31 that Bear thought gave her the authority to issue the memo. "With that I would express my sincere apology to the council and I do take responsibility for that," Bear said. On Feb. 28, Bear issued a memo to all city department heads and employees that, if contacted by the media, they should "not make a comment and refer them directly to me." Bear said she was given the authority to issue this policy by the council at a workshop on Jan. 31, even though the council never officially voted on the matter. Schulman said at the January workshop that Bear stated that "it had been recommended to her that one person should be designated to speak for the city." She said, according to Schulman, that "she and DeBritto have discussed this, and as public head, she is more than willing to do that." Schulman said on Monday night that at the Jan. 31 workshop, Bear indicated "that she and Councilor DeBritto have been meeting on a regular basis" about media relations. He said they suggested developing a script so "that everyone gets the same information." Staff writer Robert Plain can be reached at 482-3456 x 3040 or [email protected] . 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