In The Carmel Pine Cone news article entitled “Lawyer forces P.D.’s hand in McInchak case,” by reporter Mary Schley, August 1, 2014, Schley asked “WHY DID the city announce last week it was dropping the investigation of IT manager Steve McInchak?” Answer: “According to McInchak’s attorney, Richard Rosen, the move came because he was getting ready to ask a judge to order the city to return McInchak’s property seized by the city during a raid of his house more than a year ago,” according to Schley. Arguably, though, a more important question to answer is "WHY DID Carmel Police Chief Mike Calhoun issue a statement in late July 2014 that the McInchak Criminal Investigation was closed due the forensic examiner being “unable to provide sufficient information to proceed further with the investigation” when the Carmel Police Department actually closed the McInchak Criminal Investigation on December 11, 2013?" To wit, “On December 11,2013, an information firewall was established that precluded the City from participating in the Criminal Investigation, limiting the scope of the City's involvement to the Administrative Investigation only,” according to Administrative Services Director Susan Paul, DECLARATION OF SUSAN PAUL IN SUPPORT OF DEFENDANTS' SPECIAL MOTION TO STRIKE CASE NO. 5:14-cv-03084 (HRL).
And with regard to IT Manager Steve McInchak’s employment status with the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea, on July 10, 2014, attorney Jeffrey Dinkin, Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth, one of three attorneys representing Defendants City of Carmel-by-the-Sea, City Administrator Jason Stilwell and Administrative Services Director Susan Paul, in STEVEN MCINCHAK Petitioner/Plaintiff, v. CITY OF CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA, JASON STILWELL, CITY ADMINISTRATOR OF THE CITY OF CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA, SUSAN PAUL, ADMINISTRATIVE, stated that the City expects to take final action "on his employment status in the very near future," according to reporting in The Monterey County Herald news article entitled “Carmel transfers IT chief's suit to federal court Transfer criticized by attorney for IT chief Steven McInchak,” by Larry Parsons. Yet the McInchak Administrative Investigation continues with no announcement from the City about IT Manager Steve McInchak's employment status.
And finally, in The Carmel Pine Cone news article entitled “Mayor: IT investigation found big problems” by Mary Schley, November 29, 2013, Mayor Jason Burnett stated the following:
The details emerged as a thorough investigation into the city’s 20-year-old computer systems and their use “is largely complete,” Burnett said.
Burnett said it was because they had to be, but with the investigation coming to a close, more can be said about what was found.
“It’s the city council’s and my job to communicate with the community, and I realize we need to do a better job doing that. We have an ongoing investigation that’s now wrapping up, so we’re able to say more today than we were a few days or a few months ago,” he said. “We have intentionally held off until we could be at a stage where we could have this conversation.”
“I made a commitment to communicate as much as possible about what’s going on at city hall. There were more limitations on what we could say a few months ago than there are now, and I anticipate there will be more we can say in a month,” Burnett said.
He also said city administrator Jason Stilwell, who has been overseeing the investigations and suspensions, “is doing the job that we want him to be doing.”
“And I think we’re doing the job that the community wants us to do, but if people disagree with that, hang that on me,” he said. “If we saw what we’ve seen and we didn’t take action, that would be a problem.”
Therefore, in late November 2013, Mayor Jason Burnett stated that “I anticipate there will be more we can say in a month,” namely December 2013. Yet, Mayor Jason Burnett not only did not say anything substantive on the McInchak Criminal Investigation in December 2013, Burnett has not commented on the McInchak Criminal Investigation being closed in December 2013 when Carmel Police Chief Mike Calhoun issued the statement in July 2014 about the McInchak Criminal Investigation being closed with no charges against IT Manager Steve McInchak.
Given that Carmel Police Chief Mike Calhoun not only delayed the public announcement about the McInchak Criminal Investigation being closed for seven months, but Calhoun has yet to announce that the McInchak Criminal Investigation was closed in December 2013; given that City attorney Jeffrey Dinkin stated that the City expects to take final action on McInchak’s employment status in the “very near future,” yet the McInchak Administrative Investigation continues with taxpayer funded check payments to forensic examiner Mark Alcock; and given that Mayor Jason Burnett stated "I anticipate there will be more we can say in a month,” yet Burnett has not made any substantive comments on the McInchak Criminal Investigation since November 2013, it appears that Police Chief Mike Calhoun, attorney Jeffrey Dinkin and Mayor Jason Burnett are serving and protecting the city administration, not the public.
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