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Dear Editor:
Of the multitude of absurdities belched forth by Carmel propagandists, few reach the height (or, is it depth?) of this direct lift from carmel.in.gov:
City of Carmel Transparecy and Accountability
“The City of Carmel takes very seriously its responsibility to be transparent and accountable regarding the business of the City. There are many ways that residents, businesses and others who may want to gather more informaiton about upcoming, current or former projects and initiatives may access documents, video recordings, renderings or other materials that may be available.”
Well.
If they can’t spell “transparency,” can they be transparent? And, how informative can a city be which speaks of “informaiton?”
Here are a few examples from a fat file of responses received after submitting requests:
- Finding Fire Department annual reports only as recent as 2015-2016, I requested 2017 and 2018 reports. The city attorney’s office referred me to the city website address which, of course, was the 2015 and 2016 reports.
- Requesting the fiscal plan repeatedly referred to by the mayor, I was told the city had identified 48 pages of records but 47 of them had been “redacted.” I got the one page, titled “Comprehensive Fiscal Plan & Capital Improvement Plan (draft).” Unofficial sources retrieved the entire plan. It was not 48 pages, but 54.
- When the city’s Economic Development czarina failed to answer a request for the 2017 and 2018 totals of new businesses started in the city, I petitioned the City Attorney whose office “identified no records that are responsive to your request.”
- The City Attorney told me he found 85 pages responsive to my request for the Redevelopment Commission’s final tax increment special purpose report. “However,” he wrote on city letterhead, “these records constitute intra-agency advisory/deliberative material that are exempt from disclosure pursuant to . . . ” Indiana statutes.
- Several requests for engineering studies, fuel and time savings in roundabouts, purpose and results of junkets here and there by city employees, even a copy of the communications plan spokespersons follow – all met with silence.
- Most recently, the mayor remained mute when asked (Oct. 29) for background on his time spent studying law in the United Kingdom where, the Minneapolis Star and Tribune reported, he “marveled at how efficiently traffic flowed through (roundabouts).”
Whether it’s “transparecy” or “informaiton,” city functionary functioning doesn’t rise (or lower) to the level of absurd.
Bill Shaffer
Carmel