PD Editorial: There in black and white — mostly black

The much-debated secret report on charges of misconduct by Santa Rosa City Councilman Gary Wysocky is now out in the open. But don't expect to learn much from it. We didn't.

Yes, the information on what happened during the blowup at City Hall on Oct. 29 involving Mayor Scott Bartley, City Attorney Caroline Fowler, Wysocky and others is now available in black and white. But most of the pivotal parts are in black — as in blacked out.

In short, the 31-page investigation report and letters to city officials, which were released by the council on Tuesday, are so heavily redacted as to be virtually meaningless — particularly if the intention is to have them serve as the basis for censuring Wysocky for his conduct.

Read the report here

That's not to excuse Wysocky's behavior. All indications are that he acted in a disrespectful manner during interactions with the mayor and possibly others over decisions related to closing City Hall that day because of an Andy Lopez protest.

The investigation, conducted by attorney Morin Jacob of the San Francisco law firm of Liebert Cassidy and Whitmore, concluded that Wysocky did not violate the city's anti-harassment policy, given that it does not specifically apply to council members. Jacob did conclude, however, that he was guilty of violating the City Council's code of conduct.

But the report, as released in redacted form, is mostly adjectives, not facts. If Wysocky is to be censured, as one council member has proposed, for being abusive toward staff, the evidence should be out there for everyone to see. It isn't. Why that is, remains a mystery.

We can understand the argument for protecting the identity of some employees who were witnesses to this dust-up. But the redaction involved in these documents goes well beyond the elimination of a few names.

Throughout the report, entire sentences and paragraphs were taken out without explanation. In one section, 7 1/2 pages are blacked out — again, without explanation. (This is believed to be the analysis of the argument between Wysocky and Fowler.)

A section that summarized Wysocky's response to the investigation includes two entire pages that are blacked out. The documents also included three letters that were sent by the outside attorney, to Wysocky, Bartley and Fowler. The letter to Fowler is completely redacted.

The use of the black pen was so heavy even the paragraph citations of City Council policies used for the basis of the investigation were inked out — as were all reference to four of the 10 documents given to outside counsel as basis for the probe.

Why is that? Given that the person who drafted the report — Jacob — was apparently solely responsible for redacting it, we may never know. But it does raise the question as to who, if anyone other than the city manager, has seen an unredacted copy of the report. Council members themselves say they have only seen the blacked-out version.

Given all that, we don't see how the council can take any remedial action other than, as the report recommends, to affirm and update its own code of conduct and call for more training on how to create a peaceful and civil work environment.

The other option is to redact just the names and have an open and honest discussion about what really happened on Oct. 29. But city officials don't appear ready for that level of openness.