Memo to Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen - Elk Grove City Hall has more leaks than the Iraqi Navy!

The first movie for which Martin Scorsese won a Best Director Oscar was his 2006 film, The Departed. Among the memorable quotes from the ensemble cast was Mark Wahlberg's unvarnished Sgt. Dignam. Speaking to a Massachusetts State Police organized crime task force, he bemoaned how information was leaked from their office.

"Unfortunately, this shithole has more fucking leaks than the Iraqi Navy," Dignam told the group (see the entertaining video below).

After reading public documents from the City of Elk Grove, Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen might have the same thoughts about her City Hall. An example of this leaking involved the announcement of the Sacramento Zoo relocation collapse.

In the series of emails discussing the logistics and wording of the joint announcement by the city and the Sacramento Zoological Society, they agreed to release the statement at 1 p.m. Alas, one document reveals that the Elk Grove Citizen learned about the collapse deals hours before the announcement was to be made public.

On April 30, at 10:17 a.m., Deputy City Manager Kara Reddig sent an email to zoo officials and Elk Grove City Manager that said, "We have received a media inquiry from the Elk Grove Citizen about the Zoo. We plan to stick with our original 1:00 press release time. If the Zoo feels different, please reach out and let us know."

After exchanging several emails, at 10:48 a.m., Reddig wrote, "Nancy – internally, we are thinking to hold until 1, unless we hear from another media outlet. We will reach out to you if we do."

Based on the timing of news media outlets' stories, which were published before 1 p.m. and prepared like file obituaries for famous people, it is evident that at least one city hall official was willing to leak the story in advance to the media. 

For as much as Singh-Allen likes to portray herself as a beloved figure, there is at least one city hall person who is as leaky as the Iraqi Navy!