EDITORIAL: Lockport mayor's gag order is beyond the pale

Apr. 26—Mayor John Lombardi's newly issued edict at city hall — all city employees except police and fire officers are barred from speaking to "The Media: Newspaper, Television, Radio" — may or may not be legal or enforceable, but it sure is unseemly.

Lombardi's written "directive to all departments," disseminated earlier this week, states, "Absolutely No One working for City Hall is to talk to The Media in any form. ... From this point moving forwards; All questions presented to you by the media Must be directed to my office!"

The directive applies to department heads as well as rank-and-file employees, meaning it silences the city's technical experts: Assessor Tracy Farrell, Chief Building Inspector Jason Dool, Director of Highways, Parks and Water Distribution Clayton Dimmick, Finance Director Daniel Cavallari, Director of Planning and Development Heather Peck and, so disturbingly, City Clerk / Records Access Officer Sarah Lanzo. We have to assume it applies to Corporation Counsel David Blackley as well; he wouldn't even reply to our query, "did you get this?"

For this newspaper, alongside the impact on the free flow of public information, the other question that arises immediately in light of the directive is: Is Lombardi trying to hide something?

The mayor's gag order comes shortly after a revelation by the president of the city's CSEA local that was fairly embarrassing to Lombardi. As reported here, earlier this year he signed a Memorandum of Agreement granting CSEA members an additional paid holiday, Juneteenth — but the necessary authorization by the Common Council isn't coming, because the city attorney spotted a problem with the agreement (which he had not seen previously), as did at least one alderman who pointed out the potential labor unrest that could come with giving an extra paid day off to some but not all employees.

Meanwhile, our city reporter has been told, low morale and understaffing persist in the highways and parks department and there's now a question how street paving will get done this summer.

Perhaps Lombardi doesn't want city employees talking to the local press, unfiltered and un-spun, about that?

If so, we get it. Really, we do.

It's too bad Lombardi doesn't get, or doesn't care about, the idea that information filtered through him is inherently suspect. How can we trust we're getting accurate, honest answers to questions on matters that could cast his mayoralty in a less than flattering light?

Lombardi defended his gag order to our city reporter, saying it's "temporary" and necessary because some city department heads don't know the "processes" of dealing with the press. "I got a few guys ... we'll be training them," he said. "I can do what I want with my department heads."

"Training them."

Wow. We're heading into Orwellian territory now, hmm?

Honorable John Lombardi III: For the good of the city that you swore an oath to serve, we urge you to stop this nonsense, and rescind that gag order immediately.