Someone Needs to Teach Sheriff Lupe How to Use E-mail.

Sheriff Lupe Valdez exposes a rather small-minded philosophy about the press in an e-mail she accidentally sent me this afternoon. Earlier, I sent a public information request to her legal advisor, Leslie Sweet, for copies of internal affairs complaints of four Dallas County Sheriff's Department employees. I copied the sheriff...

By Robert Wilonsky

November 30, 2006

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Sheriff Lupe Valdez exposes a rather small-minded philosophy about the press in an e-mail she accidentally sent me this afternoon. Earlier, I sent a public information request to her legal advisor, Leslie Sweet, for copies of internal affairs complaints of four Dallas County Sheriff's Department employees. I copied the sheriff on it as well. In a response that was clearly meant for Sweet only, she writes:

"Let's see if we can keep from doing this, its's just a witch hunt. He can do that, but let's not assist, if we can help it."

I've e-mailed the sheriff for an explanation but have yet to hear from her. I would like to ask her if she feels like it's OK for a public official to do no more than the bare legal minimum when a reporter makes a basic request for information. I would also like to ask her if she can continue copying me on all e-mails she sends to her employees. That would be kind of cool. --Matt Pulle

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