{"id":1309,"date":"2016-05-15T10:14:37","date_gmt":"2016-05-15T15:14:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/truthinaddison.com\/?page_id=1309"},"modified":"2016-05-15T10:14:55","modified_gmt":"2016-05-15T15:14:55","slug":"1309-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/truthinaddison.com\/?page_id=1309","title":{"rendered":"The Kanter Cover Up Continues The Kanter Cover Up Continues Meier \u201cSpins\u201d His End Game"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Kanter Cover Up Continues
\n<\/strong>Meier \u201cSpins\u201d His End Game
\n<\/strong>By Susan M. Halpern
\n<\/strong>Former Addison Councilmember (1992-1999)<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Addison continues to conceal documents I\u2019ve requested relating to the Kanter fiasco, most notably Lea Dunn\u2019s 19-page memo.\u00a0 Perhaps sensing that the memo is likely to be disclosed, Todd Meier is now trying to build deniability into the public record by rewriting his part of this unfortunate history.\u00a0 Meier is now telling people that he wants to disclose Lea Dunn\u2019s memo, but is powerless to do so.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s all FALSE.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Make no mistake about it: Meier and his cadre have obstructed my Open Records Act request because releasing Lea Dunn\u2019s memo and other documents would uncover their misrepresentations.\u00a0 There can be little question that Lea Dunn\u2019s memo will refute Kanter\u2019s accusations of non-cooperation, and expose Kanter\u2019s inflammatory, one-sided presentations for the outrageous political ploy that they always were.<\/p>\n

So let\u2019s be clear about this: Meier and his group were at all times 100% in control of the decision to conceal<\/em> Lea Dunn\u2019s memo and other Kanter documents.\u00a0 That was true the day they first brought Kanter back to trash our Town in an effort to influence the election, and it remains true today.\u00a0 Any suggestion to the contrary is PATENTLY FALSE.<\/p>\n

But that hasn\u2019t stopped Meier from trying to change it all.\u00a0 This week, Meier told a citizen who has been vocal in pressing for the release of Lea Dunn\u2019s memo that Meier \u201cwould be very much in favor of that document being released to the public,\u201d and that he had previously \u201csupported an effort to expedite this release\u201d by asking the staff and Addison\u2019s attorney to submit the matter to the Texas Attorney General.\u00a0 These statements are ABSOLUTE NONSENSE.<\/p>\n

Make no mistake about it, Addison\u2019s submission to the AG is arguing AGAINST DISCLOSURE<\/u>.\u00a0 Addison seeks support from the AG to withhold<\/u> Lea Dunn\u2019s memo and other documents. To this day, Addison continues to press its position in favor of CONCEALMENT<\/u> of these documents.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Submissions to the AG do not seek permission to produce<\/em> documents.\u00a0 Not EVER<\/strong>.\u00a0 Submissions to the AG are not designed to \u201cexpedite\u201d anything, much less the release<\/em> of documents.\u00a0 Meier\u2019s suggestions to the contrary are simply FALSE.\u00a0 Continuing to pursue the AG\u2019s opinion is not the conduct of a council or Town that \u201cfavors\u201d disclosure of these documents.<\/p>\n

Meier also wrote to this citizen that he is \u201cnot doing anything to delay the release of any information.\u201d\u00a0 Nonsense.\u00a0 Delay was the whole point of submitting the matter to the AG.\u00a0 And it\u2019s worked well.\u00a0 I submitted my request in February.\u00a0 Here we are in May, and the key documents are still being concealed. Sorry, but in my world, that\u2019s DELAY.<\/p>\n

As grounds for non-disclosure, Meier cited the \u201cattorney client privilege that was developed by our previous City Attorney John Hill.\u201d\u00a0 Interesting language from Meier, who is an attorney.\u00a0 Privileges aren\u2019t \u201cdeveloped,\u201d by John Hill or anyone else.\u00a0 They either exist or they don\u2019t.\u00a0 Second, it remains my view that the documents I am seeking cannot possibly<\/u> be privileged.\u00a0 Indeed, I cannot fathom a set of circumstances under which Lea Dunn\u2019s memo could be covered by the attorney-client privilege.\u00a0 My understanding is that it responded to Kanter\u2019s allegations of non-cooperation and as such, did not seek or provide legal advice.\u00a0 Such a document cannot be privileged, whether it\u2019s cc\u2019ed to an attorney or not.<\/p>\n

But even if I\u2019m wrong about that, the choice to facilitate Kanter\u2019s inflammatory accusations of non-cooperation against Addison\u2019s prior staff and management in the most public of venues unquestionably acted as a WAIVER of any conceivable claim to privilege.\u00a0 If you publicly discuss what you claim is privileged, then your privileged days are over, and you must disclose ALL information about that subject.<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t have to be a lawyer to conclude that if Kanter is permitted to stand up and trash Addison and its prior staff and management, then the citizens of Addison are damn sure entitled to the other side of the story.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is FACT: Addison could produce this document today<\/em>.\u00a0 Addison is 100% in control of the process and the decision to continue to withhold this document, including by continuing to press for AG approval.\u00a0 There is no question that Meier and his cadre are standing in the way and are concealing Lea Dunn\u2019s memo and other responsive documents. \u00a0This is a COVER UP.<\/p>\n

So what happens now?\u00a0 Well, the AG\u2019s deadline for ruling is Wednesday, May 18, 2016.\u00a0 I spoke to their office Friday, May 13th<\/sup>, and they haven\u2019t made a ruling.\u00a0 The person who answered the phone described the office as \u201cslammed\u201d and said they were \u201cinundated\u201d with requests for opinions.\u00a0 So now this \u201cslammed\u201d office has a little more than two business days to analyze the whole matter and produce a decision.\u00a0 That doesn\u2019t bode well for those of us hoping for a thorough analysis. \u00a0But, it remains to be seen.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, Addison has been subjected to Kanter\u2019s inflammatory, one-sided presentation and Meier\u2019s outrageous political spin on the whole thing for long enough.\u00a0 The time has come to get the FACTS out, so that citizens can know the TRUTH and make their own judgments.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m hoping that with the installation of our new council, with a new direction and a new commitment to actual TRUTH and real TRANSPARENCY, we will finally see Addison make full disclosure.\u00a0 After all, real transparency starts with disclosure and TRUTH, two things that have been missing for far too long in Addison.<\/p>\n

It will be a breath of fresh air to experience real transparency once again.<\/p>\n

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