Apparently, the City of Garden Grove has a history of hiring family members of city officials. Voice of OC is reporting that “at least eight current and former city employees are close relatives of high-ranking officials,” and now the city is close to hiring Mayor Bruce Broadwater’s son as a firefighter, even though he failed a critical interview, and Mayor Broadwater says he disapproves of nepotism at City Hall.
As with the recent dust-up in Costa Mesa over the no-bid contract for their 60th birthday celebration, Voice of OC’s public records request on the subject has been denied.
Garden Grove city officials claim the correspondence is personal, and not subject to public disclosure requirements. According to the Voice of OC article, local open-government consultant Terry Francke says that such records between public officials are not personal when they are clearly regarding city business. Addressing correspondence to an individual does not exempt it from the law.
Is Garden Grove trying to cover up favoritism in hiring practices? Is Nepotism in hiring always wrong? Is public safety at risk if the Garden Grove Fire Department is pressured to hire the mayor’s son, when he did not pass his interview?
OC Political Watchdog 