Mayor Ron Littlefield Bans Times Free Press Reporter from Interaction with City Officials or Employees.

4/13/2006

Times Free Press investigative reporter Michael Weber will no longer be allowed to call, gather information, or get quotes from City personnel.  After months of providing Mr. Weber with volumes and volumes of Open Records Act information, being extremely forthcoming, timely and helpful with all of his needs and requests, Mayor Littlefield thinks it is time to stop taking Mr. Weber’s threatening and accusatory phone calls.

“I’ve instructed City Personnel they are to have no further contact with Times Free Press Reporter Michael Weber.  Mr. Weber has approached key staff in an abrasive and accusatory manner.  He is obviously on some personal mission and is chasing ghosts and goblins that don’t exist except in his own mind.  His usual mode of operation is to call and leave some gloriously inaccurate message then claim he is on deadline and filing for publication unless he hears otherwise.  Perhaps this is a tactic that worked for Mr. Weber in Brooklyn, but it won’t work here, it won’t work for me.  My guess is that it really didn’t work for Mr. Weber in Brooklyn and that is why he is here in Chattanooga.

“This is annoying, distracting, and counter to our efforts to deal honestly and openly with all media.  If Mr. Weber wishes to publish irresponsible and inaccurate information he will do so without my participation.  When Mr. Weber learns to behave in a more professional fashion as a journalist in the future I’ll reconsider this ban.

Mayor Littlefield added that he and his administration have been very considerate of the media’s requests in the past and will continue to do so in the future.  He welcomes open dialogue about City matters and believes that transparency in government is one of the tenets that make our country strong.