Medlock and someone else's e-mails

[aoxamaxoa]

"I'm guessing the city isn't very technologically advanced..."

Good guess. I am guessing Medlock is meddlesome.

[tim huntzinger]

quote:Originally posted by deinstein

I see tim huntzinger is foaming at the mouth on this one as well.

Not yet. If the emails were going to a little-used address that is one thing.  If they went to a main address and went unopened that is another.  If he opened them and they are tagged confidential then I will go rabid.

[tim huntzinger]

In reality, though, IMO it is not a big deal.

[sgrizzle]

quote:Originally posted by deinstein

Do you guys really think this is that big of a deal? Seriously? I see tim huntzinger is foaming at the mouth on this one as well.

Many companies would fire the employee on the spot if they found out about forwarding to a personal account. All emails to an organization's address are their property. It's like taking your desk chair home and not returning it after you left.

I personally don't think it's a big deal, but it COULD be a big deal if Medlock acted on any of those communications.

[Wilbur]

Sorry to say, but the city is more advanced then that.  All employees have the ability to access their work email from home, without having to forward the emails from the city system to an outside system.

[sgrizzle]

quote:Originally posted by Wilbur

Sorry to say, but the city is more advanced then that.  All employees have the ability to access their work email from home, without having to forward the emails from the city system to an outside system.

If this is true of City Councilor mail, then it nullifies Medlock's explanation.

[aoxamaxoa]

^Bet on it....

[RecycleMichael]

The timing of this month o' e-mails is also interesting. That was when the Mayor was putting her staff together and preparing the city budget.

It was also a time when constituents were contacting the five new councilors, including the one who won this particular seat.  

I can only assume there were some very interesting e-mails not intended for Medlock.

[Wrinkle]

So, some City IT person let us down. It's not the fault of anyone else. Too bad we don't hold those standards for all City employees.

Personally, this is really pretty funny.

BTW, I'm pretty sure all email correspondance remains under Open Records regulations here.

Besides, how many times have we told you, don't put anything in your email you wouldn't say to your grandmother?

[Wrinkle]

I should modify that slightly. Just assume all your email were forwarded directly to the Mayor, becaue on a City system, it's not only legal, it probably happens.

[aoxamaxoa]

BUH BYE ETHICS!!!

[Markk]

quote:Originally posted by recyclemichael

What a strange story...

http://www.kjrh.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=086c09b1-dbe5-4d7e-bc88-b695fd9cb434

City Council e-mail investigation
Posted By: Phil Berman

City Councilor Rick Westcott is accusing his predecessor of shady dealings involving confidential City Council e-mails. Chris Medlock admits he continued to get City Council e-mails forwarded to his personal e-mail address after leaving the council.

Medlock says it was mistake on the part of the city and he shut them down a month after leaving. A City Council administrator admits a member of the city's staff should have caught it sooner. He says that person no longer works there.

Complete lack of integrity, at best.  If he "forgot" about the autoforward rule before he left office, he would have been reminded of it when he got the first forwarded piece of mail after he left office.  The right thing to do at that point would be to call Westcott or someone in IT and have them disable the rule.  He apparently didn't; I assume because he thought the "inside" info could make him relevant.  He's just a hack.

[tim huntzinger]

He mentioned on-air that any emails from a certain period can be requested via Freedom of Info Act.  In his sick mind, then, he wrote his own approval.  Sort of like the warrantless eavesdropping pogrom of his icon Karl Rove.  Rules do not apply to one if one is working for a greater good.

[RecycleMichael]

According to the Tulsa World, it lasted for ten months.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=070801_1_A15_KWorl74441

Ethics is subject about receipt of District 2 e-mails
ETHICAL QUESTIONS
Chris Medlock Former city councilor Medlock has been receiving e-mails intended for his successor, Westcott.

By P.J. LASSEK World Staff Writer
8/1/2007


Ethical questions are swirling around former city councilor Chris Medlock and his nearly yearlong receipt of council e-mails that were intended for his successor, Rick Westcott. "What bothers me is that Chris continued to receive my e-mails for 10 months after he left office and never called to inform me that he was still getting them," Westcott said.

"In my opinion he has violated the privacy of all the constituents and officials that sent me an e-mail because he continued to get them and not tell anybody about it," Westcott said. Don Burdick, a former campaign manager for Medlock when he ran for City Council, said he has some "serious concerns as to what happened."

"I agree with Rick that Chris' actions at the least was discourteous, at the most was criminal, and more than likely it certainly seems unethical," Burdick said. Although Medlock gave an interview to a local television station, he refused to speak to the Tulsa World and requested that all questions be submitted in writing, to which he also has not responded.

Westcott said e-mail content was showing up in Medlock's personal Internet blog and during his political commentary as a guest on a morning talkshow on radio station KFAQ-1170 AM. Medlock is now one of the hosts of the show. "His sources he claimed to have apparently came from my e-mails," Westcott said. He also said that "sources are people you talk to. Intercepting e-mail messages from a City Council computer is not a source; that's an ethical violation." Medlock told KRJH Channel 2 that it wasn't up to him to disable a feature that sent a blind copy of council e-mails to his personal e-mail address, it was up to the council staff to do it. Council Administrator Don Cannon said a former employee should have audited Westcott's desktop computer and disabled the feature.

Because of the incident, increased security was installed on the council's computer system, which is a different system than the rest of city, Cannon said. Burdick and Westcott both supported Medlock during a failed attempt to oust him from his council office in 2005. Medlock supported Westcott as his successor when he ran unsuccessfully for mayor.

"I would hope if somebody is getting e-mails addressed to someone else, regardless of who they are or the situation, that they would have the personal integrity to say something," Burdick said. The e-mails were intercepted from April 2006 when Medlock left office until last February when the situation was detected, Westcott said.

The e-mail situation was detected after a council aide sent an e-mail with an attachment to Westcott's District 2 council e-mail address and then received a notice that the file was too big and could not be delivered to Medlock's personal e-mail address. That triggered council staff to look into how Medlock got that e-mail.

Tulsa County District Attorney Tim Harris said he told Westcott that with the absence of a formal investigation it would be difficult to determine criminal intent. Council Attorney Drew Rees agreed, adding that many of the e-mails would have been subject to an Open Records request, which Medlock could have sought through the proper channels.

[sgrizzle]

quote:Originally posted by Wrinkle

So, some City IT person let us down. It's not the fault of anyone else. Too bad we don't hold those standards for all City employees.

I doubt an IT person set it up in the first place.