The Daily Hustle: 5/24/10

We all hate deadlines; no doubt City Manager Marc Ott shares this feeling too. But Friday he made good on a demand from Mayor Lee Leffingwell for a full breakdown and timeline of the city's reasons to suppress, then release, the unredacted Keypoint report into the police killing of Nathaniel Sanders II.

The maneuverings keeping the report out of the public eye, which cost city attorney David Smith his job, were outlined in a memo from the city's legal department. However, in his memo to the mayor, Ott outlined separate steps he could take to ensure a public relations disaster like this one wouldn't occur again:

1.The memorandum of understanding made with APA, described in the attached memorandum, adds a great deal of clarity to when and how such reports will become public in the future. That step alone will help tremendously.

2.I have asked the Law Department to give me recommendations for improving how we establish clear expectations with an independent investigator concerning the form and format of written materials in the future, so that we can easily distinguish materials that can be released to the public from those that must remain confidential to protect the privacy of the officers involved.

3. I have also asked the Law Department to develop a plan to better coordinate the advice given both to City Management and to Council when, as in this case, we have multiple legal matters (such as an internal affairs investigations, court lawsuits, arbitrations, and independent investigations) that arise from a single event. I expect the legal advice we receive to be clear, consistent, and take into account all related issues.

Leffingwell released a statement upon receipt of Ott's comments noting “"I appreciate receiving this response from the City Manager and the Law Department in a timely fashion, and obviously intend to review the information in detail."

The Chronicle will have more as the story continues to unfold.

What the hell else is happening?

From the city calendar: Full day for Capital Metro, as the board's Finance/Audit Committee meets at Cap Met headquarters, 2910 E. Fifth, at 1pm. At 2pm, the Operations/Planning Committee then convenes, followed by a meeting of the full board at 3pm.

In more motorized news, the CAMPO Transportation Policy Board gets together at the Joe C. Thompson Conference Center, Room 2.102, at Dean Keeton and Red River. Up for approval is the CAMPO 2035 Regional Transportation Plan

The Design Commission meets in the Board and Commission room at City Hall, 310 W. Second, at 5:45pm. Business includes to a decision regarding mandatory review of Planned Unit Developments (PUDs) by the commission.

The Historic Landmark Commission meets in council chambers, 7pm. Nine historic public hearings and much more is in the agenda.

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