Public Memorandum and Press Statement

Formal Response to Documented Misinformation, Continued Opposition to Proposed Ordinance Amendments to MGO 5.19 and 5.20 and Formal Notice of Active Violations of MGO 5.19(6)(b).

The OIPM has published a press statement on recent occurrences, including the fact that City leadership and staff orchestrated false statements about this office and its staff. Those false statements were used to mislead the Chief of Police into giving a media interview under false pretenses. The result was a front-page headline that damaged this office based on information that was not true.

The Mayor's office inserted written claims about the Monitor into the official legislative record. The Common Council and public were given a selective record, allegations without the responses that directly contradicted them. Those responses exist. They were not uploaded. They are attached to this memo.

The email correspondence between City Attorney Haas and this office documenting the conflict of interest, the records and ordinance mandate obstruction, and the coordination with the alder sponsoring these amendments is also attached.

This office does not issue public statements lightly. This statement is issued because the public record has been deliberately shaped to support a political outcome, because false statements about this office and its staff have been used to manipulate news cycles, and because the Common Council is being asked to vote on amendments whose stated justification relies on a record that is incomplete by design.

The documentation attached to this statement does not require interpretation. It requires reading. What was uploaded to Legistar tells one story. What was left out tells another. This statement puts both stories in the same place so that the Common Council, the press, and the public can see exactly what happened and who made it happen.

The OIPM Press Statement can be accessed via its Reports Page.