Digital Fumble
Looks like Santa came early this year, and he's bearing gifts of email mishaps. Who knew the path to transparency would be paved with a lobbyist's fat fingers?
Chris Barrett, master of the lobbying arts, had a little oopsie-daisy moment. Instead of using those pesky official city emails, he decided to slide into the personal inboxes of Mayor Lawson and Vice Mayor Abbott. How cozy! Nothing says "totally above board" like using private email addresses for public business, right?
Barrett's fumble potentially makes these personal email accounts fair game for public records requests (oh, the joy!).
Ed Lawson (edlawsonltd@gmail.com)
Donald Abbott (donald@sparksproud.com)
Last week we wrote about the July Chez Bensing fundraiser for Governor Joe Lombardo where Mayor Lawson will be playing Santa for Governor Lombardo sending a check for the governor with Barrett. Nothing says "independent governance" like your city's lobbyist buddy facilitating campaign contributions to the state's top exec.
And let's not forget the duo of Barrett and Bensing, raking in those sweet, sweet taxpayer dollars as Sparks' official lobbyists. It's heartwarming to see such a tight-knit circle of friends looking out for each other's interests.
Who needs checks and balances when you've got checks and "bro"-lances?
So, here's to the City of Sparks, leading the charge in transparency - even if it's by accident. And a round of applause for Picon's "chum for records" strategy. Who knew that sometimes, all you need to do is cast a wide net and wait for the big fish to swim right in?
Now, if you'll excuse us, we'll be eagerly refreshing our inbox, waiting for the next installment of "Whoops, I CC'd That" from our favorite cast of characters in Sparks' political theater.
Stay tuned, folks - this show's just getting started. Our public records request is below and we’re eagerly awaiting City of Sparks rejection of our request, so we can take it to the next level. We enjoy working with Sparks City Attorney, Wes Duncan, who is always professional and transparent.
“Picon Press received notice recently that Barrett Resources, a City of Sparks contracted lobbyist, is conducting city business with Mayor Ed Lawson and Councilmember Donald Abbott via their personal emails. Pursuant to Nevada Revised Statute Chapter 239, though Mayor Ed Lawson and Councilmember Donald Abbott via their personal emails (edlawsonltd@gmail.com) and doanld@sparksproud.com), the use of the personal emails for governmental purposes subject the emails to public inspection.
As such, Virginia Hally, on behalf of Picon Press, hereby requests copies of all digital communications between edlawsonltd@gmail.com, donald@sparksproud.com, and chris@barrettresources.biz from January 2022 to present. These emails include updates on the federal lands bill, TMPLMA, and any other communications regarding City of Sparks governmental functions. All communications should be delivered electronically. Picon Press notes that pursuant to NRS 239.0103, “[a] any privatization contract executed by or on behalf of a governmental entity is a public record and must be open to public inspection during the regular business hours of the governmental entity.” Though Mr. Barrett operates under a privatization contract, he is not an attorney and is not protected by attorney client privilege or confidentiality when sending governmental records to the personal emails belonging to the mayor and/or any other councilmember.”