Peyton tried to block testimony under oath?!>!

[stephendare]

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2009-04-23/story/did_peyton_try_to_stop_under_oath_testimony_of_staff

Mayor John Peyton and a key City Council member opposing his Trail Ridge plan met to discuss today’s council hearing but give different accounts on whether the mayor asked that his staff not be put under oath.

Peyton said he met with Councilman Jack Webb on Wednesday to ask for “civility” in today’s proceedings, where several administration officials have been asked to testify about the mayor’s proposal to give Waste Management a contract extension worth an estimated $750 million over 35 years.

“If Mr. Webb and the council president go into this process recognizing that there are people that might have made mistakes but they’re good people that are big contributors to this government, but they should be treated with respect,” Peyton said.

The mayor said he did not ask Webb to keep the city officials from testifying under oath.
Minutes later, Webb told the Times-Union that the mayor did make that request but received no guarantees from Webb.

“I said I would consider it,” Webb said. “I wouldn’t commit to anything.”

Webb, who is slated to become council vice president this year, said he didn’t reject Peyton’s request because he doesn’t want to ruin the council’s relationship with the Mayor’s Office.

Peyton, through a spokeswoman, refused to comment on Webb’s assertion that the mayor asked him to prevent the council from putting staff under oath. Misty Skipper said Peyton stood by his previous statements and was not going to get into a “back and forth” on the meeting.

Webb said the purpose of today’s hearing is to get to the truth about the mayor’s Trail Ridge proposal. The council must approve the contract extension, but Webb and others want to reject it and allow other companies to bid.

Five members of Peyton’s staff are among those scheduled to testify, including two top aides: Chief of Staff Adam Hollingsworth and Chief Administrative Officer Alan Mosley.

Peyton said he told Webb his staff will give truthful testimony regardless of whether they are under oath. He refused to answer whether he preferred they not be put under oath, saying his opinion is “immaterial.”

“It’s their proceedings,” Peyton said. “It’s their judgment call. I don’t have strong feelings about it.”

It took three phone calls from the Times-Union before Webb would discuss details of the meeting. At first, Webb refused to comment about whether he met with the mayor. About an hour later, Webb confirmed the meeting but said he didn’t want to share what they discussed.
Finally, another hour later, he shared his recollections.

Council President Ronnie Fussell said both Webb and Peyton told him about their meeting, but he did not ask for details because he “didn’t want to know” what they discussed. Fussell said the mayor told him his conversation with Webb was about ensuring his staff is treated fairly.

Fussell said that he expects to administer the oath to all nine men scheduled to testify, but the council could decide otherwise.

Also scheduled to testify are Ebenezer Gujjarlapudi, chief of environmental compliance; Chris Pearson, director of solid waste; Devin Reed, chief of procurement; city General Counsel Rick Mullaney; Waste Management lobbyist Paul Harden; Andrew King, Republic Services’ general manager for Northeast Florida; and Republic Services attorney Tom Ingram.

[Steve]

I will say this: Tia Mitchell's coverage of this has actually been pretty good.  My guess is that the T-U is actually giving their reporter time to-dare I say it-investigate a story.

Now, let me say this.  The fact that this question came up (true or not) means that people have lost faith with this administration.  Win or lose, Peyton has officially lost any trust he had before this started.  That's a shame