Councilman's E-mail Triggers Debate

By Jorge Casuso

During the course of last Tuesday's City Council meeting, Councilman Kevin McKeown noted in passing that a viewer of the live broadcast had just sent him an e-mail about the cell phone ban the council was debating.

For the technophile councilman, who keeps his powerbook on during the meetings, it seemed an innocent example of the way new technology is broadening the democratic process.

"Our goal must be universal access, empowering more residents through the technology, keeping our eye on the ball and our cursor on the future," McKeown said after the meeting.

But for Councilman Robert Holbrook, the private input by a viewer who was not at the meeting seemed a disturbing subversion of the public process. If you want to speak on an issue, you should go to the meeting, put in a chit and make a public statement, Holbrook later said.

"It was a revelation. I never realized people were receiving e-mail regarding the topic we were debating," Holbrook said. "It could be e-mail from Gov. (Gray) Davis. How would we know? You leave yourself wide open to criticism. You wonder who he's talking to and what they're telling him."

On Friday, the City Attorney expressed similar concerns in an e-mail sent to all seven council members.

"We need to caution you about taking public input by e-mail on a matter that is before you during a meeting and, as to which, the public hearing is closed," Marsha Moutrie wrote in an e-mail obtained by The Lookout under the Freedom of Information Act. "The deliberation period is your opportunity to discuss the input you received during the hearing and, perhaps, input you received in advance of the hearing.

"It is not generally a time for new input, particularly not input to just one of you," Moutrie wrote. "When any one of you receives a communication from the public during deliberation, it could create a perception of unfair advantage being given to the person who is allowed input even though the hearing is closed. As usual, the problem is even worse if you are sitting quasi-judicially."

McKeown said he would heed Moutrie's warning, which included a suggestion that the council address the issue at a future meeting.

"I agree with the City Attorney's specific caution and will be careful not to take input on issues before the Council once they are already under deliberation," McKeown said. "In general, though, my commitment to communicate with constituents via my Web site and e-mail is an effort to which I point, and click, with pride."

Eleven years ago, as one of the early users of the city's Public Electronic Network (PEN), McKeown and other "on-line activists" would watch the meetings on television and share comments on PEN.

"We dreamed of the day when public input could be given electronically," said McKeown, who said he keeps his computer on during council sessions to look up pertinent staff reports and city codes.

But in a political arena where two former mayors recently jumped up during a council meeting to try and call timeout to advise council members on the issue at hand, the e-mail incident raised some immediate concerns.

City Clerk Maria Stewart, however, noted that there is not much difference between McKeown's incident and the lobbying efforts that can take place during a recess outside of earshot of the public. She noted that during deliberations over the expansion of Saint John's Health Center, there was "a long break where council members went out and tried to reach a consensus."

"Right now, during recess, if you leave something pending there's nothing to stop them from picking up the phone," Stewart said. "I don't think there's anything improper or throws anything into the mix that makes it improper," she said, referring to the e-mail incident.

McKeown says the debate spurred by his comment is a healthy one in a city that likely will shape the future of public debate in an electronically connected world.

"Santa Monica more than any other city may be the perfect incubator for a new and more responsive relationship between resident and government using e-mail," he said. "It would be tragic to let concern for the uncharted to rule out digital democracy, rather than our struggling together through the challenging process of making it effective and fair."