ASSOCIATED STUDENTS HOLDS SPRING ELECTIONS ONLINE Page 2
CITY COLLEGE ALUMNI STARS IN NETFLIX AND AMAZON PRIME SHOWS
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YOUTUBER SHARES HOWTO ON INTERNET STARDOM
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Vol. 169, Issue 7 | April 3 – April 17, 2020 | City College of San Francisco | Since 1935 | FREE | www.theguardsman.com
Public Records Requests Delayed By COVID-19 By Rachael Scarborough rachael@fifth-aeon.net
Government agencies are using COVID-19 as an excuse to delay requests for information. In a panel discussion held April 16, journalists and legal specialists learned how they can fight back. The meeting, held on Zoom with over 80 attendees, was hosted by the First Amendment Coalition and Society of Professional Journalists NorCal. “There are many agencies across California that are using this crisis to avoid their obligations under the Public Records Act, and that’s just wrong. It’s wrong as a matter of law, it’s wrong morally, and it’s bad public policy,” FAC Executive Director David Snyder said. The California Public Records Act, passed in 1968, requires disclosure of governmental records to the public upon request, unless exempted by law. This right to access was strengthened by an amendment to the California Constitution passed by voters in 2004. Journalists and activists depend on access to public records as a tool to hold government agencies accountable. “It’s especially crucial in the middle of a public health crisis that information about our government be made public as promptly as possible,” Snyder added. Panelist Ashly McGlone, an investigative reporter for Voice of San Diego, faced request denials while working on a story about how
San Diego County had prepared for the possibility of a COVID-19 outbreak. She sent 83 requests to San Diego agencies. Fifty-seven agencies said that they were not able to respond due to the crisis “until normal business resumes.” Ten agencies did not respond at all. Panelist and Investigative Reporter Matt Drange for the online publication Protocol described a similar experience. He requested records from Fremont city officials about why Tesla was allowed to continue operations in its Fremont manufacturing plant after the shelter-in-place order had been issued. City officials had been sent home and “basically said we can’t get to this until we get back to the office,” according to Drange. “We had our lawyers follow up with a letter that basically said, ‘You can’t do that.’ Pretty quickly after that we got back the email exchanges we wanted,” Drange said. “The squeaky wheel gets the grease. It’s really important to push back,“ Synder emphasized. McGlone said some agencies she contacted acknowledged that “E-mails are electronic and can be accessed remotely” and cooperated with her requests. She used that argument to pressure other agencies that had refused or ignored requests, and has started getting more results. Several attendees noted that agencies have been citing HIPAA regulations as a reason to deny requests. “ H I PA A is about
protecting individually identifying information. Releasing statistical information is not going to compromise an individual’s identity. Overly aggressive use of HIPAA is preventing crucial information from being released that tells both the public and public health officials how the virus is developing,” Synder said. Attendees also raised concerns about orders from the mayors of San Francisco and San Jose to temporarily suspend parts of their Sunshine Ordinances which are more pro-transparency than the state law, according to Snyder. Snyder said the SPJ drafted a letter to Mayor London Breed taking issue with her role in rolling back some of the provisions. Panelist Aaron Field, a member of SPJ and associate at the law firm Cannata, O’Toole, Fickes & Olson, added, “I haven’t seen a firm end date in connection with the suspensions and that’s a big concern.” Synder said that with the courts partially shut down, journalists need to use tools other than the legal system to push back on agencies that are using COVID-19 as an excuse to delay responses. “Make a story about the fact that an agency is not producing records. Put pressure on them with your journalism,” Snyder advised. “Government is exercising a lot more power over how we live our daily lives. It’s all the more important for us to look behind the curtain and see what’s happening,” Field concluded.
Created by an anonymous source, El Rey wears a fabric tapestry face mask covering the nose and mouth on April 24, 2020. El Rey (The King) was presented to City College of San Francisco, Ocean Campus, in 2004 by then Governor of Veracruz, Mexico Aleman Velazco. Carved by Ignaciao Perez Solano, it is an accurate reproduction of the original Olmec colossal head which is located in San Lorenzo, Veracruz, Mexico. It weighs 14 tons and is 9ft. tall. It sits in the courtyard behind the Creative Arts building near the entrance to the Diego Rivera Theater. Photo by Franchon Smith/The Guardsman.
Chancellor’s Appointment Raises Questions About Conflicts of Interest By Tyler Breisacher tbreisac@mail.ccsf.edu
The selection of Dianna Gonzales as interim chancellor has raised new questions within the college community about the position of her son, Dean of Student Affairs Noah Lystrup. Lystrup was first hired in 2015 as a Bridge to Success Coordinator, connecting SFUSD students with CCSF classes. In July 2019, he became the interim Dean of Student Engagement, at which point he was indirectly working for Gonzales, who was Senior Vice Chancellor for Administrative and Student Affairs at the time. City College spokesperson Rachel Howard said the college has consistently followed the practices outlined in San Francisco’s policy on family relationships. The
policy prohibits any city employee from being the direct supervisor of a member of their family, but allows indirect supervision as long as it is reported so that a management plan can be developed. Two questions about this potential conflict of interest were submitted at the Board of Trustees’ virtual town hall on April 7, including one from student activist Vick Chung. Board President Shannell Williams assured the attendees that “Chancellor Gonzales was not involved in the hiring of Dean Lystrup, and Dean Lystrup will not have any involvement in the appointment or selection of a new long-term Interim or permanent Chancellor.” She also mentioned City College’s official policy on family and romantic relationships, which is similar to the City of San
Francisco’s policy. The college policy has been approved by the Participatory Governance Council and “will come before the Board of Trustees for official approval in May or June,” according to Howard. Former president of Associated Students Evans Campus Brenna Stroud said the influence on hiring decisions is not the only concern. Lystrup’s involvement with the Associated Student Council gives him influence over that organization, which can create a “muting of the student voice” even apart from the hiring process for the position of Chancellor. “When the state implements changes at colleges, they look for input from the students. That happens through the Associated Students — they are the state recognized voice of the students,”
she said. “By having Noah in his current position (whether he knows it or not) is currently keeping the Associated Students quiet and allows for admin to more easily implement their downsizing policies.” Associated Students Ocean President Angelica Campos acknowledged the potential conflict of interest, but said Lystrup’s work with Associated Students did not raise any immediate concerns. “Personally, I haven’t seen anything suspicious in my time working with him,” she said. “I’ve known him to be a great ally to students and more than willing to jump in and help students when they need the support.” Environmental Horticulture & Floristry Department Chair Steven Brown said this situation had been discussed in a number
of meetings. He pointed out that Lystrup’s hiring was unusual, in that it seemed to happen without the usual processes for hiring someone to his position. He added that appointments like this were somewhat common under former chancellor Mark Rocha. Brown said he’d raised this issue with Gonzales, and was hopeful that she would follow official processes more closely, to ensure that faculty, students, staff, and administrators, all get a say in major decisions affecting City College. Lystrup did not respond to a request for comment, and Gonzales declined to comment, referring to the statements by Howard and Williams.