New report tells KC to be more transparent with public after whistleblower lawsuit

City government needs to make changes in how it communicates with the public and the news media to ensure greater transparency and build trust within the community, the Kansas City Auditor’s Office said in a new report that lays out a three-point plan.

Point one: Fill the communications director job that has been sitting empty for three years.

Point two: Come up with a communications strategy on how best to provide the public and news media with information, because there isn’t one now.

Third and final point: Start tracking requests for public records requested under the state’s Sunshine Law to see how long it takes city departments to provide the information. No one is doing that on a regular basis now, the report says. Last year the average was 14 days.

“Generally, I’d say that I agree with all three recommendations that the auditor made,” City Manager Mario Vasquez said Thursday after Interim City Auditor Marc Shaw summarized his findings at a City Council business session .

Vasquez said he hopes to have a communications director hired by the first of the year. The communications strategy is being developed, he said, and he’s taking a look at who in city government should be in charge of Sunshine Law requests. It might not be the communications department.

The council commissioned the audit back in April after firing former City Manager Brian Platt. Among the reasons cited for Platt’s dismissal was the perception that, under his administration, the city had lost the public’s trust by prioritizing positive public relations and branding over disseminating unvarnished information.

Testimony bolstering that point was the foundation for the successful whistleblower lawsuit that former city communications director Chris Hernandez filed against the city. After Hernandez won his suit during a jury trial in February, the council agreed to pay him and his lawyers a $1.4 million settlement.

Platt had removed Hernandez from his communications job in August 2022 for refusing to provide the public with what Hernandez believed to be inaccurate information.

One of Platt’s top deputies oversaw the communications department after that, which the audit said led to morale problems, resignations and uncertainty among the communications staffers as to what kind of information they were allowed to give the public without clearing it first with the top brass.

“For example, without senior-level clearance, City Communications staff did not feel comfortable releasing information about a city parking lot that was full, a relatively innocuous piece of information that would have been useful and time-sensitive information to its customers,” the audit said.

In another instance, communications staffers were told not to release new state information about the prevalence of sexually transmitted infections in Kansas City because the city did not want that kind of headline.

Also according to the audit, the now former assistant city manager who assumed Hernandez’ duties and has since been fired, “called journalists who had written unfavorable stories and threatened to deny them further access to City officials.

“Such threats were inconsistent with transparency – a core tenet of democratic governance.”

Prior to the audit, members of the news media had sent Mayor Quinton Lucas a joint letter urging the council to work collaboratively with journalists and allow greater access to transparent and accurate information.

“We believe that shared knowledge is critical to a well-functioning society and participation in democratic processes,” the news organizations said in that open letter.

Auditor Marc Shaw’s staff surveyed local journalists as part of the research for the report.