In her continuing effort to conduct political assaults on her enemies with public resources, Supervisor Sharon Bronson has called for action in the controversy surrounding the release of public records by Supervisor Ally Miller related to her former staffer, Tim DeJarlais. As a result, an item has been placed on the Board of Supervisors meeting agenda this week on behalf of legacy journalists who balked at paying their bill.
Bronson is taking advantage of the legacy media’s complaints that Miller is charging too much and delaying the release of public documents. Miller, who says she is following the protocol recommended by the County Attorney, demanded that the various outlets charge $0.35 a page. Miller’s staff has, in accordance with the County Attorney’s protocol, spent weeks redacting the personal information of constituents on the over 1000 pages requested by the legacy outlets.
Those dying outlets cried foul when they received the notice of the cost. They complained that Miller was overcharging them. This despite that the $.035 per copy is clearly written on the public records’ portal:
Use the web form below to request a public record under Arizona Revised Statutes, Title 39, Ch. 1, Article 2 et seq. If you prefer to submit a paper form, contact the Clerk of the Board at (520) 724-8449.
To assist in our effort to process your request, be specific when providing the description of the record requested.
A record or a part of a record may not be subject to public dissemination under Arizona law. You will be notified if the release of the record is restricted under law or if parts of the record requested will be redacted.
Records will be provided in the form that they exist. New records will not be created in response to a request.
You will be contacted regarding payment of any associated costs.Cost for Non-Commercial Use
$.35 per page
$5.00 per compact disc (CD)
However, in response to a request for information, on June 10, 2016 the Pima County Attorney advised the ADI that “it is our office policy to charge $0.35 a page plus $10.00 an hour for personnel time for photocopies/scanning/and/or $5.00 per compact disc or digital video disc which must be paid in advance.”
It would appear that the legacy outlets were actually being billed the customary price. And unlike as has been the case for the ADI on too many occasions, the legacy outlets actually receive the documents they requested.
The key difference being that the legacy media enjoys revenues from likes of Jim Click, and can afford to threaten lawsuits, while the ADI cannot. Here is a sampling of questions and requests that remain unanswered:
To: Mark B. Evans (Communications) (mark.b.evans@pima.gov)
Sent: Tuesday, June 7, 2016 2:53 PM
Subject: world view siteMr. Evans,
When did they do the archeological study on the World View site?
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Sent: Monday, June 13, 2016 2:13 PM
To: Lenora Anderson <Lenora.Anderson@pcao.pima.gov>
Subject: Public Records Request
Importance: HighMs. Lenora Anderson,
Please provide us with details related to the custom printing that was ordered on the items purchased by the County Attorney’s Office listed below:
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Sent: Thursday, April 14, 2016 3:20 PM
To: Mark B. Evans (Communications) (mark.b.evans@pima.gov)
Subject: inquiryMr. Evans,
Can you direct us to the person who could provide us with work orders for Colossal Cave Road?
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Sent: Monday, April 4, 2016 6:04 PM
To: ‘Chuck.huckelberry@pima.gov’
Subject: memo dated April 4Mr. Huckelberry,
In your memo dated April 4 regarding World View and the Goldwater Institute you write:
“It would appear the Goldwater letter was specifically designed to derail or adversely affect the financial transactions of the County with the issuance of Series 2016B COPs.”
Can you explain what evidence you have of the intent? It appears to be a strong charge and surely you must have some basis for making it.
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Sent: Wednesday, March 16, 2016 4:35 PM
To: ‘Chuck.huckelberry@pima.gov’
Subject: Miranda hireMr. Huckelberry,
Can you tell us why the position left by Antonio Vereen in November was finally filled in March considering how many issues the Wastewater Department has had over the last year? Also, can you tell us who was on the selection committee?
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Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2016 9:56 AM
To: ‘Tracy.Suitt@sheriff.pima.gov’
Cc: Buddy Janes (Harold.Janes@sheriff.pima.gov); ‘chris.nanos@sheriff.pima.gov’
Subject: public records requestTo the custodian of records/PIO,
Please provide emails between Sheriff Nanos and “All Users” and all responses received related to those emails for the period of February 15, 2016 to today. Also provide any and all emails related to Kevin Kubitskey.
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Sent: Friday, November 20, 2015 9:32 AM
To: ‘Buddy Janes’
Subject: off the record cafeCaptain Janes,
Can you provide us with a list of sources for the funding of the “Off the Record” Café?——–
Sent: Wednesday, August 12, 2015 8:03 AM
To: ‘Christopher Radtke’
Cc: ‘Chris G. Nanos’; ‘Brad Gagnepain’; ‘Buddy Janes’
Subject: RE: new re-organizational changes to the departmentChief Radtke,
Thank you.
The department has a magnetic card entry system that records dates, locations and times when someone accesses a secure doorway. Consider this a FOIA request for records generated by that system for you, secretaries Dana Munoz and Carolina Vargas, Bradley Gagnepain, Karl Woolridge, Byron Gwaltney, retired Sheriff Dupnik, and current Sheriff Nanos since January.
Also, can you tell us why you were allowed to get out of the “drop?”
Can you also tell us why the top leadership appears, for the most part, to have retired from the force only to be brought back on? Are there no candidates capable of leadership positions in your current employee pool?
Because of that disadvantage, in some instances, the ADI has waited months for answers to fairly simple questions and what should be readily available documents requested from the Sheriff and County Administrator’s offices.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Bronson and the rest of Chuck Huckelberry’s controlled members of the Board will have an opportunity to make the sole watchdog on the Board of Supervisors appear to be as unresponsive to requests for public information as has been the majority of the Board, Sheriff Nanos, and County Attorney Barbara LaWall.