News of the Arroyo
Title: | NFL debate goes to Internet |
Subtitle: | |
Date: | 2005-09-04 |
Summary: | September 4, 2005 - A flap has broken out over the propriety of prominently displaying the test of a citizen initiative mandating NFL negotiations on the official Pasadena website. |
Author: | Gary Scott, Staff Writer |
Publication: | Pasadena Star News |
Content: | PASADENA -- The decision to publish the text of a proposed NFL ballot initiative on the city-owned Web site has raised eyebrows among those who oppose the measure and sparked an internal debate in the city over the precedent it sets. A link to the text first appeared on the city\'s home page -- www.cityofpasadena.net -- on Aug. 16 or 17, about a week after the proponents submitted the measure to the City Clerk\'s Office. This set off a flurry of e-mails between city spokeswoman Ann Erdman and City Manager Cynthia Kurtz, both of whom expressed grave reservations about having the raw text of a non-city ballot proposition posted on the site. \"This certainly sets a new precedent that makes me nervous,\" Erdman wrote to Kurtz on Aug. 17. \"Was this authorized to be posted on our Web site?\" Kurtz responded, \"I didn\'t post it, didn\'t know it was there and don\'t know who asked,\" adding, \"I agree this does not sound appropriate. It is not from the council as a body.\" Typically, the city has waited until an official ballot title and summary have been prepared, and an election called, before posting information under the \"elections\" tab on on the Web site, Erdman said. In this case, City Clerk Jane Rodriguez decided to publish all 100 or so pages of the measure before these formal documents were prepared, and then posted the text on the city\'s home page. Erdman said that by offering this \"highly politicized\" measure such prominent placement on the site, other groups will demand the same treatment for future measures -- no matter how far-fetched or controversial. Kurtz made this point to Rodriguez several days after the measure first appeared. Rodriguez responded that she had spoken with the mayor and the city attorney and felt confident about her decision to make the posting. However, she did agree to add a disclaimer saying the city neither proposed nor endorsed the proposed initiative. A check of the site early last week revealed the disclaimer had been taken down. After an inquiry was made on Wednesday, it reappeared in bold, red type. Rodriguez has defended her decision to publish the initiative proposal as an effort to give the public easier access to important -- and voluminous -- political documents. \"I was responsible for putting that up there,\" she said Wednesday. \"No one asked me to do it.\" The measure was proposed by three sitting council members who feel their colleagues erred when they voted to end negotiations for a stadium deal with the National Football League. It seeks to bypass this policy by letting the voters set the terms for a possible deal. Though it has yet to qualify for the ballot, the measure has triggered a passionate response from many residents living near the Rose Bowl stadium who say the NFL would be the ruin of their neighborhoods. If passed, the measure would offer the league a 25-year lease to play at the Rose Bowl in exchange for investing $500 million-plus in renovations and paying $500,000 a year in rent. In recent days, anti-NFL forces have called on the city to either take down the text or create an open forum on the Web site where arguments against the measure can also be posted. \"They have to take this stuff down,\" Martin Truitt, a political consultant working with the anti-NFL forces, said. \"This hasn\'t even qualified for the ballot yet.\" If the city chooses to keep the measure up, Truitt said, it would only be fair for the city to post the text of the lawsuit NFL opponents plan to file in the coming weeks to prevent the measure from appearing on the ballot. Rodriguez disagreed with this assessment. However the posting is characterized by opponents, she said the measure is a formal document filed under the elections code and not a campaign piece open for debate on the city Web site. -- Gary Scott can be reached at (626) 578-6300, Ext. 4458, or by e-mail at gary.scott@sgvn.com. |
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