Quan forced to talk about monitor allegation

http://www.mercurynews.com/alameda-county/ci_21655798/citywise-rebecca-kaplan-wont-challenge-jean-quan-mayor

Quan didn't postpone her most recent scheduled deposition with attorneys seeking to place Oakland's police department under federal control, but the seven-hour proceeding Monday didn't go entirely smoothly.

Quan said she shouldn't be compelled to answer questions relating to City Administrator Deanna Santana's allegation the police department's federal monitor made sexual advances against her.

The stalemate forced attorneys to call a federal magistrate, who denied the city's request for a protective order precluding Quan from discussing the topic.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Nathanael Cousins said in his ruling, released Friday, that, among other things, the questions being asked of Quan were relevant.

"At bottom," he wrote, "a deponent -- even a mayor -- does not get to choose the questions she wants to answer."