Free Talk Live

I live in Discovery Bay and am interested to see the amount of national coverage this ill-advised policy decision has brought out small community. This no-cash policy was conceived to thwart anonymous public records requests (PRR). Why would anyone file an anonymous PRR? Well, after a PRR uncovered illegal activity by the Discovery Bay CSD Board and forced board member David Piepho to return $6500 in cash to the district, the board complained that PRRs were a distraction. I guess so - they were distracted into changing their illegal behavior! At that point the board began harassing citizens who submitted PRRs both my listing them on agenda and minutes of meetings in a special section, to compiling data on the irritating citizens. Interestingly, their policital allies were and are able to obtain public records without filing a formal request. Not really fair, is it? Last year a total of four anonymous PRRs were submitted and after expressing distaste for such requests, the board came up with this no-cash policy, claiming concerns for safety. Of course, there are security cameras at the district offices which is located behind a church and next to the elementary school, there has never been a report of any safety or crime issue related to PRR funds (the cost is $0.10 per page and most PRRs cost less than $5.00. Some cost only $0.10). While three board members (Graves, Simon and Steele) claim this policy is all about safety and efficiency, two board members (Piepho and Dawson) have come clean and admit the policy is a pre-text to thwart PRRs. Piepho and Dawson' comments are against their own self interests, and therefor seem more reliable than Graves and Simon (Steele wasn't on the board when this was first raised, didn't follow the actions of the board closely until he took office and may not know the truth behind the policy. This article is pretty clear and I urge everyone to read it and pay attention to the comments of Dawson and Piepho: http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_17143670? There is also a local community based web page that provides more background information: https://sites.google.com/site/discoverybaydocuments/Home/no-cash-policy