In the news:
- Yuck. The North County Times reports today that a former top deputy of Treasurer-Tax Collector Dan McAllister accused him of sexual harassment and said she was fired.
Suzanne Torres has issued a few ugly accusations against McAllister that the county counsel is looking into.
Torres’ complaint alleged that she [was] unjustly fired after rebuffing romantic advances from McAllister, who was re-elected to a second four-year term as treasurer tax-collector, running unopposed, in the June primary. The complaint asks for an unspecified amount of damages exceeding $10,000.
I talked with McAllister briefly about the charge.
He said Torres had resigned – not been fired – after she discovered she wasn’t a “good fit” for the office and now was unjustly “attacking” the county and him.
“When we hired her we had high expectations and hopes for her success. But in this case, we are clearly confident that she was not a good fit for our office and that is why she resigned,” McAllister said.
I’ll see if I can get a hold of the complaint and pass it along.
- I have to give my compliments to the Union-Tribune‘s editorial board for this piece today. The U-T is complaining about the fact that a major report from the district attorney on a bizarre police shooting in National City was released without a whisper to anyone.
The report was finished three months ago but the DA didn’t tell anyone.
The DA’s office says it is not its responsibility to publicize its own reports. A Sheriff’s Department spokesman said it only will release DA reports, based on the sheriff’s own investigations, if asked.
This attitude of public agencies that “we won’t tell unless you ask” is so bizarre that even a police chief was confused. National City Police Chief Adolfo Gonzales asked Dumanis and Sheriff Bill Kolender at a Nov. 1 meeting why the DA’s Sept. 8 report had not been made public. They affirmed their policies.
If there’s one thing I can’t stand about all local governments is their selective publicity. The DA makes things public that suit her political goals all the time. With the web and e-mail, simple systems can be put in place to make reports like these available.