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62 °F Forecast | Road Cams Tuesday, March 8, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend March 8, 2005 Phoenix council revokes controversial media-contact policy Bob Plain Ashland Daily Tidings The Phoenix city council decided to rescind its media policy at its city council meeting last night. The council voted unanimously to revoke the recently enacted policy that prohibits council members and city staff from talking to the press. They also voted to rescind the consensus decision that the council agreed to on January 31. At that time the council agreed in a workshop that the mayor should be their spokesperson for important matters such as the Home Deport project. At last night’s meeting two councilors admonished Mayor Vicki Bear for issuing the policy without having them read it over first. Advertisement "The Phoenix city council was unaware of the memo titled ‘Media Contact’ until after its distribution to city employees, department heads and the media until February 28, 2005," said city councilor Dean Martin at last night’s meeting. "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 the entire council first." Councilor Steve Schulman also spoke out against Bear’s policy, and the way she went about enacting it. "In show business, they say any publicity, even bad, is good as long as they spell your name right," he said. "Unfortunately, the publicity this city is getting is neither beneficial nor good." Schulman introduced a motion that would have designated a spokesperson on a case-by-case basis. However, instead the council agreed to rescind the policy and the original consensus decision that enacted the media policy in the first place. Mayor Bear apologized for issuing the employee policy without first asking the council about it. "Did I err in putting out the memo, absolutely," she said. "I should have put it out for the council first." Mayor Bear said after the meeting that she thought the council would revisit this issue at a future council meeting. Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback Student Loan Consolidation Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers home equity loans helzberg Slippers Student Loans afsa teleconferencing Memory Foam Mattress Advertisement s