"Was microphone left on after Modesto City Council meeting?"
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| "Is this thing on?" (Photo credit: Fly'n Dutchman Signs) |
I listened to Greg Nyhoff talk for just over an hour, the streaming conversation being broadcast over the internet ended at 1:05:53. The most concerning part of the conversation was Mr. Nyhoff's comments regarding Salida and Wood Colony which I quoted during the public comment period at the Modesto City Council meeting on March 25, 2014:
"Now there's a very good reason why I feel that further abuses could be forthcoming and that's because after the last council meeting, I had left after public comment, but then regretted not staying for another one of the agenda items so I turned the meeting on at home. The screen said the meeting was over, but I could still hear streaming audio come through from about an hour long conversation between Greg Nyhoff, Jenny Kenoyer, and Stephanie Lopez. Mr. Nyhoff was giving Ms. Kenoyer sort of a history lesson on Wood Colony and Salida. He said that Bill Lyons had come to the city asking for his land in Wood Colony to be annexed and that Salida wasn't going anywhere, “...because we have their fire department, their water, and their sewer.” Pretty much saying that Modesto has Salida over a barrel."
My mouth was agape listening to this and when I snapped out of my shock, I started contacting friends in Salida and Wood Colony to turn on their computers and listen. At least one person in Wood Colony also heard it along with the Spyksmas who taped it. While I wasn't able to tape it myself, I did take notes.
Mr. Nyhoff was quite the Chatty Cathy. He lamented how Modesto, "Can't get off the Top 10 lists, heck, we can't even fix the sidewalks!" He spoke about the unions and the failure of Measure X, saying, "We have no cops, we watch the criminals zip through."
But another jaw-dropper was his comments regarding city planners, Brent Sinclair and Josh Bridegroom: "Brent won't bring anything to us and Josh is following in his footsteps. This isn't the Josh Show."
I didn't seek out the Bee to do an article on the open mic, but I'm glad they decided to do one because of the revealing interviews Kevin Valine conducted. First off, Mr. Nyhoff claims temporary amnesia for an hour-long conversation. Perhaps reading my blog post will refresh his memory. That, or he can listen to the recording. And Bill Lyons is, "...not aware of any talks between his family and the city" regarding developing his land in Wood Colony. Can we take that to mean he is counting himself among "his family"? Bill Lyons owns the largest parcel of land in the proposed annexation zone under the name "Beckwith-Dakota LLC" so that's GREAT news for Wood Colony if he and his family have NOT been talking to the City of Modesto about developing their land there. Guess Mr. Nyhoff was mistaken when he named him.
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| Source: Salida MAC Facebook page |
I've been told that there's a backroom behind the dais where the council can have private conversations so perhaps they'll make an effort to use this room next time instead of risk having their conversation streamed over the internet via a live mic. Marco Moreno posted that its happened before and he's tried reporting it but to no avail. The upside if they choose to ignore the issue further is potentially more "what do they really think" streaming conversations.
I know there are certain issues that City Council members are not allowed to talk about with others under the Brown Act. Anyone know which those are?
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