Democracy at work

In his letter in the Oct. 13 issue, Anthony L. Pecoraro, president of the Tenants Alignment Association, states that he “did not attend the (city of Calabasas) Affordable Housing Workshop due to the utter humiliation of a ‘restraining order’ threatened by the city because of (his) efforts at bringing the apartment housing needs to the fore.”

It’s true that my office did write Mr. Pecoraro and state we would seek a court order restraining him if he did not stop harassing city officials with deluges of unwanted faxes and e-mails at their homes and private businesses. The city certainly does not wish to prevent Mr. Pecoraro or any of its constituents from participating in the city’s meetings and forums. Such participation is the essence of local democracy.

However, Mr. Pecoraro used email and faxes to harass city officials, not only at city hall, but in their private work places. He copied his e-mails to dozens of people at their places of employment who have no relationship to the city and used a variety of misleading e-mail addresses to overcome anti-spam efforts by these firms.

I am pleased to say that Mr. Pecoraro stopped these harassing practices after our request. I regret that he misunderstood our request as also asking that he cease to participate in the city’s public affairs. That was, of course, not our intent.

On behalf of the city of Calabasas, I wish to assure your readers that the city values input from its constituents and encourages participation in the city’s meetings and other forums. We do, of course, expect common courtesy and civility, not to mention compliance with anti-spam laws. Michael G. Colantuono Calabasas city attorney