A dispute between Los Angeles city officials and a neighborhood safety coalition has uncovered controversial communication practices within the city government.
According to the Washington Examiner, the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office has launched an investigation into employees' use of Google Chat after critics alleged that the platform's auto-deleting feature allowed officials to circumvent public records laws.
The investigation stems from a 2023 conflict between the city and the Crane Boulevard Safety Coalition, which discovered the use of disappearing messages during a dispute over a Mount Washington housing project.
The coalition's findings revealed that city employees were utilizing Google Chat's 24-hour auto-delete feature for internal and external communications. This practice has raised concerns about compliance with California's Public Records Act, which requires most records to be preserved for at least two years.
Attorney Jamie T. Hall, representing the Crane Boulevard Safety Coalition, expressed serious concerns about the implications of these communication practices.
He emphasized that Los Angeles's history of corruption makes this communication method particularly problematic. According to Hall:
The City of L.A. has a history of corruption and self-dealing, and this allows a platform for those deals to be facilitated without fear that anyone will find the evidence, because the chats are deleted within 24 hours. The Public Records Act exists in order to ensure that there's openness and transparency, and when records are purposefully deleted, it undermines democracy and facilitates corruption.
The coalition's legal challenge extends beyond the Google Chat issue. They allege that city leaders conducted closed-door discussions and circulated confidential reports among employees, including council members' notes and concerns about projects, prior to public hearings. This pattern suggests that decisions were potentially being made in private before public proceedings took place.
Public records requests have yielded significant findings about the scope of these communications. A request produced 38 pages of messages from former City Councilman Paul Krekorian's office, containing both personal and official business discussions. The messages included communications about various city matters, including activities involving Democratic Mayor Karen Bass.
Further documentation revealed that Krekorian's spokesman, Hugh Esten, used Google Chat to discuss a "nomination" with Chelsea Lucktenberg, who serves as spokeswoman for Councilwoman Eunisses Hernandez.
The city council scheduled a closed session on December 11 to confer with legal counsel about the case. Karen Richardson, speaking for City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto's office, confirmed they were investigating their processes but declined to comment on the pending litigation.
Crane Boulevard Safety Coalition President Mark Kenyon emphasized the importance of preserving government correspondence. His statement reflects the coalition's position: "We think the public has the right to know what its government is doing."
The investigation continues as city officials gather information about their communication processes. The controversy has sparked broader discussions about transparency in local government operations and the appropriate use of modern communication tools in official business.
The Los Angeles City Attorney's Office's investigation into Google Chat usage stems from the Crane Boulevard Safety Coalition's discovery of auto-deleting messages during a Mount Washington housing project dispute. The practice of using 24-hour auto-deleting messages for city businesses has raised significant concerns about transparency and compliance with California's Public Records Act.
