Confrontation between U-T reporters and city staff leads to more city hall security
There are signs on the seventh floor of City Hall that say “authorized employees only” that weren’t there two weeks ago. And, for the last week, city staff have been looking into gates to keep uninvited members of the public out of parts of City Hall where no public services are rendered. The staff on the seventh floor, mostly bookkeepers, accountants and members of the comptroller’s staff, are jumpy—nervous, it seems, at the sight of strangers. All in all, it’s become an odd place for public employees.
What has them all on edge?
It was a request for public documents gone wrong, a confrontation between city staff and Union-Tribune reporters Brooke Williams and Danielle Cervantes on a fateful day in June. The reporters wanted to review public records, as they had in the past. City staff wanted to know why a couple of strangers were wandering around their offices. Arguing ensued, and the reporters were asked to leave the building empty handed.
