SCR 911 merely taken "appropriate action" for Interim General Manager's public attack

From: "John E. Colby"
Date: May 23, 2012 5:33:57 PM PDT
To: Don Miller , Tom Moore , David Lee , letters [at] gtweekly.com, msc [at] metcruz.com, scimc [at] indymedia.org, Brad Kava , editors [at] cityonahillpress.com, ksconews [at] gmail.com, kusp [at] kusp.org, frsc [at] freakradio.org, Tom Dunlap , Katharine Ball , assignmentdesk [at] kqed.org, contact [at] pacifica.org
Subject: Public should know what "appropriate action" was taken w.r.t. my complaint about SCR 911 supervisor Dennis Kidd

May 23, 2012

via email to:
dmiller [at] santacruzsentinel.com
tmoore [at] santacruzsentinel.com
davidlee [at] kionrightnow.com
letters [at] gtweekly.com
msc [at] metcruz.com
scimc [at] indymedia.org
brad.kava [at] patch.com
editors [at] cityonahillpress.com
ksconews [at] gmail.com
kusp [at] kusp.org
frsc [at] freakradio.org
tdunlap [at] register-pajaronian.com
kball [at] thecalifornian.com
assignmentdesk [at] kqed.org
contact [at] pacifica.org

re: Public should know what "appropriate action" was taken w.r.t. my complaint about SCR 911 supervisor Dennis Kidd

To whom it may concern:

I believe the public has the right to know what "appropriate action" was taken regarding my complaint about SCR 911 Interim General Manager Dennis Kidd's public comment on the Internet impugning the integrity and motives of private citizen Don Adams. SCR 911's operations must be transparent so that the agency can be held accountable to the public. Citizens have the right to know. For the sake of democratic local government, they must know.

I ask the news media to inquire about this, to inform the public, so that similar incidents of publicly lodged personal attacks on private citizens do not occur again. Moreover, I don't believe the controversy surrounding Don Adam's alleged call to SCR 911 has been settled — it invites further investigation by the news media because of its implications in the tragic death of Shannon Collins.

Sincerely yours,
John E. Colby, Ph.D.

email: colby [at] docktorcat.com
twitter: @jecolbe

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Goldstein, Jamie"
Date: May 23, 2012 2:13:13 PM PDT
To:
Subject: FW: Please handle my requests for restorative justice because Dennis Kidd is SCR 911 Interim General Manager

Mr. Colby –

Thank you for your email. I have forwarded your records request to appropriate staff at SCR 911. As for your complaint regarding the interim General Manager, appropriate action has been taken.

Thank you,

Jamie Goldstein
Board Chairperson,
Santa Cruz Regional 9-1-1

Begin forwarded message:

From: John E. Colby [mailto:colby [at] docktorcat.com]
Sent: Sunday, May 20, 2012 11:04 AM
To: Goldstein, Jamie; Martín Bernal; Carlos Palacios; Susan Mauriello
Cc: Don Miller; Tom Moore; David Lee; letters [at] gtweekly.com; msc [at] metcruz.com; scimc [at] indymedia.org; Brad Kava; editors [at] cityonahillpress.com; ksconews [at] gmail.com; kusp [at] kusp.org; frsc [at] freakradio.org; Tom Dunlap; Katharine Ball; assignmentdesk [at] kqed.org; contact [at] pacifica.org
Subject: Please handle my requests for restorative justice because Dennis Kidd is SCR 911 Interim General Manager

May 20, 2012

Board of Directors
Santa Cruz Regional 9–1–1
495 Upper Park Road
Santa Cruz, CA 95065
Tel: 831.471.1009; 831.471.1018; 831.471.1008

via email to: jgoldstein [at] ci.capitola.ca.us
via email to: mbernal [at] cityofsantacruz.com
via email to: citymanager [at] ci.watsonville.ca.us
via email to: susan.mauriello [at] co.santa-cruz
cc: dmiller [at] santacruzsentinel.com
cc: tmoore [at] santacruzsentinel.com
cc: davidlee [at] kionrightnow.com
cc: letters [at] gtweekly.com
cc: msc [at] metcruz.com
cc: scimc [at] indymedia.org
cc: brad.kava [at] patch.com
cc: editors [at] cityonahillpress.com
cc: ksconews [at] gmail.com
cc: kusp [at] kusp.org
cc: frsc [at] freakradio.org
cc: tdunlap [at] register-pajaronian.com
cc: kball [at] thecalifornian.com
cc: assignmentdesk [at] kqed.org
cc: contact [at] pacifica.org

re: Please handle my requests for restorative justice because Dennis Kidd is SCR 911 interim general manager

Dear SCR 911 Board of Directors:

It just came to my attention that Scotty Douglass no longer works at SCR 911 as the general manager. Instead Dennis Kidd is the interim general manager.

Since I am lodging a complaint and request for restorative justice about the actions of Mr. Kidd, I ask your board to direct the copied email below to the appropriate SCR 911 staff, besides Mr. Kidd, to process. I believe your board is empowered to hear complaints about your interim general manager. Thus I would appreciate if your board would process my requests for restorative justice regarding Mr. Kidd's post on a Sentinel Internet comment forum where he personally attacked the integrity of private citizen Don Adams.

I believe my requests for restorative justice are even more important now that they involve the highest ranking SCR 911 official, making Mr. Kidd's Internet post even more indefensible.

Thank you for your effective handling of these requests for restorative justice involving your interim general manager.

Sincerely yours,
John E. Colby, Ph.D.

email: colby [at] docktorcat.com
twitter: @jecolbe

Begin forwarded message:

From: John E. Colby
Date: May 20, 2012 3:35:11 AM PDT
To: Scotty Douglass
Cc: Jamie Goldstein , Martín Bernal , Carlos Palacios , Susan Mauriello , Don Miller , Tom Moore , David Lee , letters [at] gtweekly.com, msc [at] metcruz.com, scimc [at] indymedia.org, Brad Kava , editors [at] cityonahillpress.com, ksconews [at] gmail.com, kusp [at] kusp.org, frsc [at] freakradio.org, Tom Dunlap , Katharine Ball , assignmentdesk [at] kqed.org, contact [at] pacifica.org, Terry Francke , Peter Scheer
Subject: Restorative justice for character attack on private citizen by SCR 911 supervisor Dennis Kidd on Sentinel Internet forum

May 20, 2012

Scotty Douglass
General Manager
Santa Cruz Regional 9–1–1
495 Upper Park Road
Santa Cruz, CA 95065
Tel: 831.471.1014

via email to: scotty [at] scr911.org
cc: jgoldstein [at] ci.capitola.ca.us
cc: mbernal [at] cityofsantacruz.com
cc: citymanager [at] ci.watsonville.ca.us
cc: susan.mauriello [at] co.santa-cruz
cc: dmiller [at] santacruzsentinel.com
cc: tmoore [at] santacruzsentinel.com
cc: davidlee [at] kionrightnow.com
cc: letters [at] gtweekly.com
cc: msc [at] metcruz.com
cc: scimc [at] indymedia.org
cc: brad.kava [at] patch.com
cc: editors [at] cityonahillpress.com
cc: ksconews [at] gmail.com
cc: kusp [at] kusp.org
cc: frsc [at] freakradio.org
cc: tdunlap [at] register-pajaronian.com
cc: kball [at] thecalifornian.com
cc: assignmentdesk [at] kqed.org
cc: contact [at] pacifica.org
cc: terry [at] calaware.org
cc: pscheer [at] firstamendmentcoalition.org

re: Restorative justice for character attack on private citizen by SCR 911 supervisor Dennis Kidd on Sentinel Internet forum

Dear Mr. Douglass:

I am writing in response to a post by SCR 911 Assistant General Manager Dennis Kidd on the Sentinel newspaper Internet comments forum in which he attacked the integrity of private citizen Don Adams who claimed to the Sentinel that he had made a 911 call about Shannon Collin's murderer loitering in the Broadway Street neighborhood where Ms. Collins was tragically stabbed and killed last May 7th. His alleged call to SCR 911 is a source of controversy between Adams, the Santa Cruz Police Department and SCR 911. Please refer to the Sentinel newspaper story about this linked to below:

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_20623833/santa-cruz-man-who-reportedly-called-911-about

If SCR 911 wants to dispute Mr. Adam's claims about his alleged call to the agency then the news media and press releases are the appropriate venues. I was disturbed to find Mr. Kidd personally impugning the character of Mr. Adams on a public Internet forum. I believe this violates or should violate ethics and professional codes for law enforcement employees. Mr. Kidd's post can be viewed in the article above, the attached PDF at the end of this message or using the link below:

http://tinyurl.com/cgrfg6q

To quote Mr. Kidd:

"Don't forget Mr. Adams also criticized 9–1–1 dispatchers, claiming they don't take his numerous calls seriously. Confusing to imagine what his motivation is."

My first request:

Under rights granted me by the California Public Records Act (CPRA), I am making a CPRA request pursuant to California Gov't Code Government Code Section 6250 et seq. I ask for all policy guide chapters, handbook sections, code documents, memoranda, personnel policy documents and electronic or non–electronic written communications regarding SCR 911 policies for public comments by SCR 911 employees, supervisors and officials pertaining to issues involving the agency.

If these documents are available in an electronic format such as Portable Document Format (PDF), eXtensible Style Language (XLS), MS Word Document (DOC), Rich Text Format (RTF), Hypertext Markup (HTM), plain electronic text (TXT), native email formats — like AOL for Windows, Apple Mail, Claris Emailer, Compuserve, EML, Entourage, Eudora, Maildir, MBOX File, Mulberry, Neoplanet, Outlook, Outlook Express, Outspring, Powertalk, Quickmail Pro, Thunderbird, Windows Mail, Windows Live Mail, Yahoo Archive! — then I ask that they be provided to me in one of those forms, preferably in their native form.

I am willing to pay a fee of up to $100 for this request. If you estimate the cost of completing this request will exceed that amount, please contact me first before completing it with a fee estimate. If this request would entail special searches which would incur search fees to me, please contact me first with a fee estimate.

My second request:

• I ask that Mr. Kidd be formally reprimanded for his unprofessional, unethical public comment attacking the character of a private citizen.
• I ask that Mr. Kidd publicly retract his comment and issue an apology to Mr. Adams in the Santa Cruz Sentinel or through another local news outlet in print, radio or on television.
• I ask that Mr. Kidd be educated about how to act more appropriately when making public comments about agency issues.
• Subsequent to the records I receive from my above referenced CPRA request, I ask that SCR 911 issue a written policy specifically addressing public comments by agency employees, supervisors and officials, especially on the Internet, which involve issues pertaining to the agency. I ask that this new written policy be made available to the public on SCR 911's official website.

I sincerely hope that Mr. Kidd's Internet comment was an isolated incident, not reflective of SCR 911 policy and staff behavior. I appreciate your processing my CPRA request and meeting the elements of my second request to provide Mr. Adams remedy for his character being personally attacked on a public forum by Mr. Kidd.

Thank you for carefully considering what I have written and taking effective action on my requests.

Sincerely yours,
John E. Colby, Ph.D.

email: colby [at] docktorcat.com
twitter: @jecolbe