City Admits Error in Paystubgate

Will Bigham reports in today's Daily Bulletin that we at Insider were right all along about the city of Claremont having employee pay stubs available on their on-line document archive:

CLAREMONT - The release of city employee pay stubs through the city's Web site was caused by human error, according to a report commissioned by the city.

The report confirms claims made by the Claremont Insider blog that the information was available on the city's online public document archive.

The report also confirms that there was no security breach or theft related to the release of the pay stubs.

"I regret the error was made, but human error is a natural phenomenon that occurs in life," City Manager Jeff Parker said.

Where to begin...?

It's always great to hear that bureaucratese passive voice - "the error was made," not a simple, "We goofed." (For the record, anytime you hear that passive voice from these people you know that they are trying to avoid responsibility for something.)

Just as the sun rises in east, you can count on a non-apology from these folks, from the Claremont 400, from their candidates for office, and from city staff.

Parker is right that errors happen. We understand that and do not fault anybody for an honest mistake. It's the constant claims of infallibility by the Claremont 400 that cause them to look stupid. So when the inevitable fall comes, as it did this case, it's a just one - call it karma or schadenfreude.

And, it's not just that they refuse accountability, it's that they treat you as stupid or worse if you cross them, no matter how right you are. In the case of Paystubgate, the city assumed the Insider stole the information we published, falsely accused us of theft, had the city attorney contact Google to have this site terminated (does that sound temporary?) in an unsuccessful attempt at illegal and unconstitutional prior restraint, and had Google remove the pay stub images from this site (either because the information was confidential, because the images were copyrighted, or because the information was stolen, depending on what day it was).

Stop to consider who was right and who was wrong in this matter. Then apply the same lessons to any divisive issue that has come before the city in the past 20 or so years: the Landscaping and Lighting District, the roundabout at Indian Hill Blvd. and Bonita Ave., the Irvin Landrum shooting, the Padua Sports Park, the homes destroyed by fire in Palmer Canyon and Padua Hills, the Parks and Pasture Assessment District, the affordable housing project on Base Line Rd.

Everyone who has dealt with the city in those issues and many more has experienced the same thing we have with Paystubgate. That incompetence and the refusal to acknowledge their wrong actions have been constants in the city, and it will not change because the Claremont 400 will not let it and because city staff and the city attorney lack the integrity to tell them when they are wrong.

It is up to you to demand accountability. Until you do, get ready for the next Paystubgate, in whatever form it takes.