Eye On Modesto

MID says Their Digital Records aren’t Really Public Records in Response to a Public Records Request

By Emerson Drake

The meanderings of the MID’s attorney are curious. 

The question seemed simple enough when I asked,  “since MID throws the DVD recording of their meetings away after 100 days, would it be okay if I took them off of their hands instead.”

The answer I received was three pages long and about as straight forward as the Gordian knot. 

Why don’t they want to keep the records?  Are they afraid their words will come back to haunt them? MID makes the claim they only use the tapes “for facilitating the preparation of the minutes.” They actually include the phrase “MID does not use, intend,  keep,  or preserve the DVDs for any additional purpose  such as the preservation of quotes or exact words used in a meeting.”

Why wouldn’t they want quotes or exact words?  Isn’t that what the minutes are supposed to be?

Please take a few minutes to read their response (below) and see if you don’t have a few questions of your own.

Slegal11112315320

Modesto Developers…Are you Listening U.N. Says 25% of Globes Farmland Highly Degraded

By Nicole Wimfield

ROME (AP) — The United Nations has completed the first-ever global assessment of the state of the planet’s land resources, finding in a report Monday that a quarter of all land is highly degraded and warning the trend must be reversed if the world’s growing population is to be fed.

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that farmers will have to produce 70 percent more food by 2050 to meet the needs of the world’s expected 9 billion-strong population. That amounts to 1 billion tons more wheat, rice and other cereals and 200 million more tons of beef and other livestock.

To read more http://www.salon.com/writer/nicole_winfield/