City politics

Several reporters claim the Washington, D.C., city council violated its own open meetings law when it ordered police to remove the media from a recent meeting, which was called to discuss in-fighting among council members.

Newspaper reports about a rumor regarding a local city councilman’s personal relationship with a woman who received a “sweetheart deal” to perform a project for the city were not defamatory, an Alabama appellate court recently held.

Eight Bell, Calif., city officials were arrested last week on corruption charges after public records requests and a subsequent investigation by the Los Angeles Times revealed government corruption and prompted a larger investigation by the Los Angeles County district attorney.

A federal judge ruled last week that a group of Texas cities cannot take part in a legal effort to overturn the state's open meetings law because cities have no guarantee of free speech and therefore cannot challenge the constitutionality of the law alongside 17 public officials.

Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino was ordered to turn over the computer and software of a senior aide after his office provided only 18 e-mail messages from the aide over a six-month period in response to a request from the Boston Globe, the newspaper reported.

To the lengthy list of Web sites blocked on city employees' computers in Vallejo, Calif., which so far includes pornography, social networking and gambling sites, we can now add three blogs -- one hosted by the local Times-Herald.

The attorney general of Rhode Island filed a lawsuit against the city of Cranston on Wednesday over alleged violations of the state's public records law, The Providence Journal reported. 

Patrick Lynch is suing on behalf of a local radio disc jockey who waited months for the city to produce records on long-distance phone calls and other matters, The Journal said. The disc jockey, John Bina, is currently running for a position on the city council.

The Scranton Times-Tribune asked Lackawanna County Judge Robert A. Mazzoni to recuse himself from a libel case brought against the newspaper by two former county commissioners.

A bill introduced under the Public Information Act in Baltimore City is being referred to the subcommittee for amendments in the Maryland Legislature.

The bill attempts to block access to information under the Maryland Public Information Act by requiring anyone seeking information from a state or local government agency relating to a pending lawsuit to obtain a court order first.

Defiant and refusing to step down, embattled Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick continues to assert that records showing public funds financed an $8.4 million settlement between the city and terminated police officers are not public records.  The deal included a confidentiality agreement forbidding the three officers from discussing text messages exchanged between Kilpatrick and former chief of staff and alleged paramour Christ