Just a few days after details surfaced that Palm Springs Mayor Robert Moon had been investigated for installing a secret video camera in his office at City Hall, two Palm Springs council members have asked for more information.
Moon was accused of secretly recording people with a Blink security camera and intercom system in April after he claims he noticed items in his office had been moved. The city sought outside council and the matter was turned over to police, who did not pursue the matter.
Now, Christy Holstege and Geoff Kors have asked that the the discussion to be placed on the agenda for the next council meeting, scheduled for July 11th. The council members released the following statement to KESQ:
As the members of the City Council who serve on the ad hoc employment subcommittee, we have requested that a discussion item be placed on the July 11th City Council meeting relating to surveillance equipment that Mayor Moon placed in his office and the office of an employee.
We have received multiple requests for information from Palm Springs residents and from the media. We firmly believe this process should happen in an open public meeting and in a transparent process that is available to the public.
In response, the Subcommittee will be requesting that an independent investigation be undertaken to ascertain and report on the facts so that Council can take any necessary steps to protect the City and ensure the public has accurate information about what occurred.
We are concerned about false information that is being shared. However due to this matter involving City employees, and because of Attorney Client privileged communications, it is inappropriate for any member of council to be sharing information publicly at this time. The attorney client privilege can be legally waived but only by a vote of the Council which has not yet occurred. In addition, in order to ensure the integrity of an independent investigation, we will not be further commenting until the Council meeting on July 11th.
The City of Palm Springs and the City Council remains committed to the highest level of ethics and transparency and we will continue to protect and promote those values.
Moon, who didn’t know about the charges until last week, addressed the accusation of secretly recording people at the last city council meeting.
“You can criticize what I do, or what I think or what I say, but to criticize my integrity, really, really hurts a lot,” the mayor said.
