It’s too bad City Hall doesn’t pipe in Top 40 music, if it was playing in the background of the video it would have been taken down for copyright violations automatically.
Yeah, those guys are jerks, and that’s the point, they’re gotcha videos trying to catch First Amendment violations for views. City employees needs to be aware that people do have a right to record video in public spaces.
With a couple exceptions, our city employees did quite well. I love the totally indifferent reaction from Dana and Sam in the mayor’s office. And that screen grab with the police officer and the headline is disingenuous and misleading.
Anonymous
on October 21, 2019 at 10:52 pm
I wish these guys were a little bit (correction, a lot) nicer and less confrontational, because videos like this do serve a purpose, hence why they have some popularity.
About a month or so ago, I was in the assessing department with a map I purchased from the city about 20 years. I was comparing it to old zoning maps, and when leaving I was confronted by the woman at 13:20 in the video who without introducing herself, yanked the map from where I was and then walked back to the department to check the old maps before talking/yelling over to a coworker, and then returning and checking my map again. Clearly, she thought I may be stealing an old map, but her intimidating method was somewhat embarrassing and also unprofessional. Luckily, it was a mid-afternoon, so none of my friends were there. At the time, I thought it was funny, but I knew a more short-tempered person could have made it into a much bigger scene. I also didn’t like thinking about the fact that a member of a minority or someone who simply wasn’t familiar with all of the departments in Newton (and what they were allowed to access) , might be brushed off by this employee.
So, clearly, this video reminded me of this incident, and perhaps others have had other negative incidents with a particular employee. It would be great if we had a city employee (not annoying YouTuber) who could on occasion check to make sure these types of incidents would not happen. And it would be great to be able to anonymously report it too. Just sayin…. Also, it should be said 99% of city employees have been great to me.
Colleen Minaker
on October 22, 2019 at 6:23 am
David Olson is super helpful and pleasant. He has always
been most responsive when I ask for voting information.
The people in the GIS office were likewise very good at
providing zoning maps. I watched the video.
The 2 men were looking for ways to provoke the city employees.
Some of the women were immediately on the defensive.
On the whole, I was impressed with the men and women in each department.
They understood how to interact with the video crew. The 2 police
were very cool and handled the situation exceptionally well.
Matt Lai
on October 22, 2019 at 6:38 pm
These guys are in it for the buck…taking advantage of an online fad, and a total perversion of freedom of speech.
Puh-lease. We should not be giving them any airtime on V14.
Mike Ciolino
on October 22, 2019 at 9:34 pm
My first reaction … Wow what an unprofessional headline. Who wrote that?
After watching the video, Greg, you were much too kind.
Lisap
on October 23, 2019 at 11:37 pm
Thank you for posting this link. I quite enjoyed seeing how most City employees responded positively and politely. As for those who were initially hostile, their supervisors quickly provided appropriate corrective advice that these film makers were within their rights to film public business in a public place. I also thought that the two law enforcement officers presented outstanding representations of the police motto … “to serve and protect “. Overall, I disagree with their ratings of City employees. Though not perfect, most but not all of the employees shown on video were respectful and courteous.
I may disagree with their conclusions, but I have no beef with the endeavor of going into government buildings (public places) and documenting how public employees respond to a citizen with a camera.
Norman
on October 24, 2019 at 6:31 am
Just two jerks out looking for a confrontation, but no one was biting.
Back in the day I used to work in the Clerk of the boards office but that was long before the advent of the cell phone. Couldn’t help but feel a bit nostalgic
Christine K
on October 25, 2019 at 12:00 pm
Smug jerks using some dim pretext of public accountability as an excuse to be rude, provocative, self-satisfied and condescending.
Jack
on October 25, 2019 at 8:11 pm
@Christine K I am stealing your “Smug jerks” phrase. thanks!
Man, these guys need a new hobby.
It’s too bad City Hall doesn’t pipe in Top 40 music, if it was playing in the background of the video it would have been taken down for copyright violations automatically.
Yeah, those guys are jerks, and that’s the point, they’re gotcha videos trying to catch First Amendment violations for views. City employees needs to be aware that people do have a right to record video in public spaces.
With a couple exceptions, our city employees did quite well. I love the totally indifferent reaction from Dana and Sam in the mayor’s office. And that screen grab with the police officer and the headline is disingenuous and misleading.
I wish these guys were a little bit (correction, a lot) nicer and less confrontational, because videos like this do serve a purpose, hence why they have some popularity.
About a month or so ago, I was in the assessing department with a map I purchased from the city about 20 years. I was comparing it to old zoning maps, and when leaving I was confronted by the woman at 13:20 in the video who without introducing herself, yanked the map from where I was and then walked back to the department to check the old maps before talking/yelling over to a coworker, and then returning and checking my map again. Clearly, she thought I may be stealing an old map, but her intimidating method was somewhat embarrassing and also unprofessional. Luckily, it was a mid-afternoon, so none of my friends were there. At the time, I thought it was funny, but I knew a more short-tempered person could have made it into a much bigger scene. I also didn’t like thinking about the fact that a member of a minority or someone who simply wasn’t familiar with all of the departments in Newton (and what they were allowed to access) , might be brushed off by this employee.
So, clearly, this video reminded me of this incident, and perhaps others have had other negative incidents with a particular employee. It would be great if we had a city employee (not annoying YouTuber) who could on occasion check to make sure these types of incidents would not happen. And it would be great to be able to anonymously report it too. Just sayin…. Also, it should be said 99% of city employees have been great to me.
David Olson is super helpful and pleasant. He has always
been most responsive when I ask for voting information.
The people in the GIS office were likewise very good at
providing zoning maps. I watched the video.
The 2 men were looking for ways to provoke the city employees.
Some of the women were immediately on the defensive.
On the whole, I was impressed with the men and women in each department.
They understood how to interact with the video crew. The 2 police
were very cool and handled the situation exceptionally well.
These guys are in it for the buck…taking advantage of an online fad, and a total perversion of freedom of speech.
Puh-lease. We should not be giving them any airtime on V14.
My first reaction … Wow what an unprofessional headline. Who wrote that?
After watching the video, Greg, you were much too kind.
Thank you for posting this link. I quite enjoyed seeing how most City employees responded positively and politely. As for those who were initially hostile, their supervisors quickly provided appropriate corrective advice that these film makers were within their rights to film public business in a public place. I also thought that the two law enforcement officers presented outstanding representations of the police motto … “to serve and protect “. Overall, I disagree with their ratings of City employees. Though not perfect, most but not all of the employees shown on video were respectful and courteous.
I may disagree with their conclusions, but I have no beef with the endeavor of going into government buildings (public places) and documenting how public employees respond to a citizen with a camera.
Just two jerks out looking for a confrontation, but no one was biting.
Back in the day I used to work in the Clerk of the boards office but that was long before the advent of the cell phone. Couldn’t help but feel a bit nostalgic
Smug jerks using some dim pretext of public accountability as an excuse to be rude, provocative, self-satisfied and condescending.
@Christine K I am stealing your “Smug jerks” phrase. thanks!