Yesterday, at approximately 5:30 El Paso time I received four images of Steve Ortega and Veronica Escobar pursuant to my open records request. My receipt of these images has now reinforced my belief that there are some serious problems with how the city has handled my open records requests.
For those who might be anxiously waiting to see the purported picture will, unfortunately, have to wait one more day. I’ll be publishing all four images tomorrow however don’t get too excited because there’s nothing to get excited about. What is important about this whole exercise is the process.
Receiving the images late yesterday has raised some serious questions about how the city has handled my original open records request and whether it has been transparent and forthright with its dealings with me.
For those seeking open and transparent city government what I will be sharing with you tomorrow should cause you to consider whether the city is truly being honest with the community.
In the meantime I suggest you read “Steve’s Hand on Veronica is About the Process” to understand what has happened so far and what steps I have taken in order to document the process. I realize it is a long read but it needed to be in order for the process to be fully exposed.
The image is important to me because it symbolizes the process of accessing open records at the city that in my opinion is flawed, haphazard or outright corrupt.
I can’t help but wonder, are my experiences just bad luck, city incompetence, a mixture of all of those things or an outright attempt to protect special interests?
Tomorrow I’ll connect the dots for you, and yes, there will be pictures.
