Editorial: San Jose strip club coverup violates state records law

As on-duty San Jose firefighters last fall parked a fire truck, lights flashing, outside the Pink Poodle strip club, a woman in a bikini exited the vehicle.

It was captured on video. GPS tracking information later showed that Engine 4 also traveled that night to a bikini bar about two miles away.

"If the investigation concludes that this video is as bad as it looks, then heads must roll," then-Mayor Sam Liccardo said two days later. "We cannot have a life-critical emergency rescue apparatus relegated to a frat party bus."

We couldn't agree more.

Yet city officials have since claimed that it's none of the public's business who was responsible and what, if any, punishment was doled out. For six months now, San Jose has stonewalled this news organization's efforts to obtain documents about the incidents.

Which is why last week we filed a lawsuit in Santa Clara County Superior Court demanding release of the records about the Pink Poodle fiasco.

While we have been dumbfounded at times by attempts of government officials across the Bay Area and the state to hide wrongdoing from the public, San Jose's withholding of documents in this case is one of the most egregious.

The city claims that the public's interest is best served by keeping the documents secret. It's an astounding assertion that if left to stand would undermine the fundamental principle of transparency embedded in the California Public Records Act.

The city further claims that the documents are part of personnel files protected from disclosure. Never mind that longstanding case law in California makes clear that when wrongdoing by public employees is found, the records must be disclosed.

In this case, wrongdoing was clearly substantiated, and disciplinary action was taken, as Fire Chief Robert Sapien Jr. acknowledged in a summary memo he issued last month to the mayor and City Council.

But what exactly happened? Why, as it turned out, did a fire truck go out of the area it was assigned to drop off an unauthorized male passenger at his workplace, the Pink Poodle? Who decided it was OK to then let a bikini-clad woman go for a ride-along? And who chose to then drive the firetruck to AJ's, the bikini bar about two miles away?

And, perhaps most important, how severe was the discipline meted out by Sapien for what he described as clear violations of city and Fire Department policies? It was apparently far short of the "heads should roll" that Liccardo had demanded.

The Public Records Act is designed to provide answers to questions just like those, to provide public oversight to ensure proper accountability. But city officials are trying to thwart that oversight.

Liccardo's successor, Mayor Matt Mahan, said Thursday that the public deserves greater transparency. "It isn't enough to say that appropriate disciplinary action has been taken," Mahan said. "The public needs enough information to decide that for themselves."

Again, we agree. But City Attorney Nora Frimann and apparently a majority of the City Council do not. They are the ones to blame for this coverup, for the failure to comply with the state's transparency law.

Every second counts when an emergency vehicle is called into action. Firefighters routinely face life-and-death situations. It's essential that they do everything possible to ensure they are ready and properly positioned when called into action.

Instead, those involved in this scandal took an emergency vehicle for a joy ride. There must be proper accountability — for the firefighters responsible and the city officials enabling this half-year coverup.

Get Morning Report and other email newsletters