Is the DOJ Double Talking in Ferguson?
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The Department of Justice is currently negotiating a settlement with the City of Ferguson. The great majority of the residents of Ferguson have no idea what the DOJ has proposed. The DOJ told a small group of residents that the City is free to release the DOJ’s proposals if it wants. The City of Ferguson has been telling residents that the DOJ specifically told the City that it should not release the DOJ’s requests. Here is a video of an exchange at the last Ferguson City Council meeting between one of the residents and the Mayor.
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What is the answer to her question?
Is the DOJ saying one thing publicly, but telling the City of Ferguson something different in private?
Is it right for the DOJ to give a private update to a small group of selected citizens and not to the entire community, and then refuse to address the controversy that this private meeting caused?
It’s hard to imagine the City misleading its residents, or what it would gain by doing so – if it was the Ferguson attorney recommending against release, residents would have accepted the answer. Maybe it was just an innocent mistake on the part of the DOJ, the result of an internal communications breakdown causing two different divisions of the DOJ to provide contradictory statements.
Why does it matter what the DOJ said? The City is trying to rebuild trust with all parts of Ferguson. If the DOJ is talking out of both sides of its mouth then it is making the City of Ferguson look like a liar – the DOJ is undermining residents’ trust in their elected officials. Again, the cause could be innocent miscommunications within the DOJ, but its things like that that make some Ferguson residents believe the Department of Justice is purposely trying to engineer the bankrupting and de-incorporation of our city.
Whatever the cause of the miscommunication, ALL residents of Ferguson want to know exactly what the DOJ told the City of Ferguson: did the DOJ encourage the City to not publicly disclose the DOJ’s settlement request? Ferguson and the United States deserve transparency.
Is it right for the DOJ to give a private update to a small group of selected citizens and not to the entire community, and then refuse to address the controversy that this private meeting caused?
It’s hard to imagine the City misleading its residents, or what it would gain by doing so – if it was the Ferguson attorney recommending against release, residents would have accepted the answer. Maybe it was just an innocent mistake on the part of the DOJ, the result of an internal communications breakdown causing two different divisions of the DOJ to provide contradictory statements.
Why does it matter what the DOJ said? The City is trying to rebuild trust with all parts of Ferguson. If the DOJ is talking out of both sides of its mouth then it is making the City of Ferguson look like a liar – the DOJ is undermining residents’ trust in their elected officials. Again, the cause could be innocent miscommunications within the DOJ, but its things like that that make some Ferguson residents believe the Department of Justice is purposely trying to engineer the bankrupting and de-incorporation of our city.
Whatever the cause of the miscommunication, ALL residents of Ferguson want to know exactly what the DOJ told the City of Ferguson: did the DOJ encourage the City to not publicly disclose the DOJ’s settlement request? Ferguson and the United States deserve transparency.
