Times-News and Magicvalley.com P.O. Box 548 Twin Falls, ID 83303
Jan. 19, 2017
Idaho Press Club P.O. Box 2221 Boise, ID, 83701
Best of 2016 Annual Awards judges: The Times-News in February 2016 tested access to public records by dispatching a team of reporters to ask for records relevant to its readers’ lives – such as building permits, police video, food safety inspection results or standardized test scores – then documenting how agencies responded. The newspaper’s investigation also showed readers what they might learn by making records requests of their own and told them how to do it. The team watched how each agency reacted: How long did it take to get a response? Was the requester asked to refile the request using the agency’s own form? Was he referred elsewhere? Was she asked any questions – either to help refine the request, or to discover its motives? How long did it take to receive the records? In an engaging, easy-to-read story format, the reporters described how the 14 responses unfolded — sometimes swift and professional, sometimes convoluted. The team had test scores from Hansen School District in hand within 2 1/2 hours. Jerome County took longer than two weeks to supply commissioner emails. The team’s special report also described insights gleaned from the records, to illustrate what readers could learn if they request similar records. A same-day editorial urged readers to submit public records requests of their own and offered reporters’ and editors’ advice to readers who need help with the process. We proudly nominate the project for the Idaho Press Club’s First Amendment Award.
Sincerely, Virginia Hutchins, Enterprise Editor (208) 735-3242, virginia.hutchins@lee.net
Sunday
• March 6, 2016
www.magicvalley.com •
$3.00
DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS
Dietrich’s Porter Robertson, right, hugs Garrett Astle after defeating Council in the 1A-DII state championship game Saturday morning, at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa.
Dietrich Boys Take Home First State Title in 50 Years MICHAEL KATZ mkatz@magicvalley.com
NAMPA • All Wayne Dill could do to hold back tears was talk into the microphone. The 14-year veteran Dietrich Blue Devils head coach addressed the crowd at the Nampa Center for the first time in his life. Staring straight back at him were the faces of former players, lifelong fans and
family. His emotions were bound to get the best of him. Dill held his composure for the majority of his speech but got choked up towards the end. He stood in front of the large white banner that had eluded him and the school for years. He thanked everyone he could remember. It was a moment half a century in the making, and according to Dill, worth every second.
Garrett Astle and Jake Smith combined to score 40 points Saturday morning against Council, leading the North Side Conference champion Blue Devils past the Lumberjacks, 68-55, in the 1ADII championship game at the Idaho Center. It is the first state title for the Dietrich boys team since 1966. It is also the second year in a row a team from the North Side
Conference comes home with the championship; Carey took firstplace in 2015. “I’m really close with my players. And sometimes you see the way I get after them on the floor, it might not look like that. (But) I love my players,” Dill said as he started to tear up again. “And it’s a real tribute when they come back. It’s a really tribute when they come up and hug you. And they are why
Just Ask for It
Idaho law protects your right to monitor the actions of state and local governments by providing access to public records. The Times-News tested that access by dispatching a team of reporters to ask for public records relevant to our readers’ lives — among them, police video, building permits, 911 call audio and food safety inspection results. The responses were sometimes swift and professional, sometimes convoluted. Inside today, the team’s stories reveal how each request unfolded — and suggest what you might learn through records requests of your own. See the special report on B1.
| See more of the Times-News’ best work at Magicvalley.com/bigstory. If You Do One Thing: A dance with Music Melody Masters and a potluck will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Jerome Senior Center, 520 N. Lincoln St.
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we’re here. My players are special. They’re like family to me.” For years, Dill and his players watched the girls team travel to Nampa and win trophies. His always took his team to watch Acey Shaw work his magic and win four-straight titles and make six-straight appearances in the title game. Please see DIETRICH, D3
Idaho’s March 8 Presidential Primary, By the Numbers BETSY Z. RUSSELL The Spokesman-Review
Two Number of parties participating — just the Republican and Constitution parties. The Idaho Democratic Party will make its presidential nominating decisions at county caucuses on March 22, where participants must sign a pledge saying they’re members of the Democratic Party. Three Number of candidates on the Constitution Party presidential ballot in Idaho: Scott Copeland and Patrick Ockander of Texas, and J.R. Myers of Alaska. Eight Time that polls open and close – they’re open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thirteen Number of candidates on the Republican Party ballot, even though some have dropped out of the race since they filed for the Idaho ballot. The choices, in alphabetical order: Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina, Lindsey Graham, Mike Huckabee, John Kasich, Peter Messina, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Rick Santorum and Donald Trump. The ones still actively campaigning are Cruz, Kasich, Rubio and Trump. Number of GOP delegates at stake in the Idaho primary. But no candidate will get any delegates unless that candidate gets at least 20 percent of the vote. And if any candidate gets more than 50 percent, it’ll turn into a winner-take-all: That candidate gets all 32 delegates. 2,265 Number of Idaho voters registered as members of the Constitution Party of Idaho 298,211 Number of Idaho voters registered as members of the Idaho Republican Party 364,355 Number of Idaho voters registered as unaffiliated with any party Please see PRIMARY, A5
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• Sunday, March 6, 2016 Enterprise Editor Virginia Hutchins [ 208-735-3242 • vhutchins@magicvalley.com ] • B1
THE BIG STORY
STEPHEN REISS, TIMES-NEWS
Idaho law guarantees access to a vast array of public records, such as building and food safety inspections, officials’ emails and meeting minutes. Here, Jon Laux, right, an inspector for the city of Twin Falls, talks to construction foreman Kasey Smith, center, about engineering with tall walls Feb. 8 at a construction site on Blick Lane.
How Open Are They? Times-News Investigation Tests Access to Public Records Open government is the cornerstone of a free society.” | That’s the opening statement of Idaho Attorney General “ Lawrence Wasden’s manual explaining the state’s 1990 public records law. In short, the law protects citizens’ right to monitor the actions of state and local governments by providing access to government records. | And thanks to a change by the 2011 Legislature, you can get the first 100 pages of your public records request for free. | The TimesNews tested that access last month by dispatching a team of reporters to ask for public records relevant to our readers’ lives — building permits, police video, food safety inspection results, standardized test scores — from agencies chosen arbitrarily. | Using personal email addresses and not identifying themselves as journalists, the reporters all used similar letters citing the applicable sections of Idaho code. And they all sent off their requests between 8 and 10 a.m. on a Wednesday. | Then they watched the response — sometimes swift and professional, sometimes a little convoluted. | Reporter Julie Wootton had test scores from Hansen School District in hand within 2 1/2 hours. Jerome County took longer than two weeks to supply the commissioner emails reporter Tetona Dunlap requested. | Most agencies didn’t require the request to be refiled on their own forms. A few recognized the reporters’ names and contacted them at work. And none charged for the records they eventually supplied. | Inside today, the team’s stories reveal how each request unfolded — and suggest what you might learn through records requests of your own.
REQUEST: 911 Call Audio What we asked for: An audio copy of a 911 call from a 2013 crash that killed a 58-year-old man driving a tractor on U.S. 30 near Hansen. Our request was detailed: “... a copy of a tape of the 911 call made by Rick Webb about 7:30 a.m. Oct. 2, 2013, in regards to a fatal crash on eastbound U.S. Highway 30 that killed Salvador Centeno-Hernandez.” Who we asked: Southern Idaho Regional Communications, which handles emergency dispatching for Twin Falls County. Because the agency didn’t list a general contact email, the request was sent to Director John Moore and Deputy Director Kristy Churchman, whose names, titles and email addresses were found on SIRCOMM’s website under the “Contact Us” page. What happened next: Moore responded just 25 minutes after he received the request. The body of the email was simple and short: “Please see attached response. Regards, John Moore.” The attachment, sent in PDF format, was a form letter with several options for the agency to choose. The fourth option was marked with an X and read like this: “Your request has been reviewed and cannot be approved because the records you seek are not obtainable in the format requested or are the records of another agency. Contact the appropriate agency directly.” The request was denied. Under that sentence, though, there was an explanation: “Specifically: Per SIRCOMM records retention policy audio recordings are only kept for a period of one year from date of incident.” So in simple terms, a copy of the requested 911 call was denied because SIRCOMM keeps recordings for only one year. Another box was marked with an X on the letter, this
More Inside
REQUEST: Teacher Contracts
TIMES-NEWS FILE PHOTO
A dispatcher takes a call at Southern Idaho Regional Communications Center in Jerome.
one to say that SIRCOMM’s attorney had reviewed both the request and the response. The letter was signed by Moore. Other options in the form-letter response were for requests that were approved, requests that SIRCOMM would need more time to answer and requests that were denied on a legal basis. What we got: Nothing. What you could learn: SIRCOMM’s quick, efficient response indicates the agency is accustomed and well prepared to receive and handle public record requests. It seems SIRCOMM should be able to quickly supply the audio version of a 911 call if the request is within a year of the incident, although it’s unclear how pending litigation or other circumstances might affect the agency’s willingness or ability to provide it. —Alex Riggins
What we asked for: All 2015-16 Valley Elementary School teacher contracts. Who we asked: Valley School District, based in Hazelton. What happened next: I received a response with the teacher contracts about 24 hours after emailing the request to clerk Lorrie Meek. What we got: A 14-page PDF included every individual teacher contract. What you could learn: Each contract includes the employee’s name, how many days he or she works per year and how much she’s paid. Pay ranges from $33,200 to $45,305 annually. There’s one exception: A teacher contracted to work only 80 days — from January through August — will be paid $16,350. You can find out how much other Magic Valley teachers are paid. And sometimes, it’s easily accessible online without filing a public records request. But most Idaho school districts and charter schools aren’t meeting state transparency requirements. As of October, only 14 had all of the required financial and teacher contract information posted online, Idaho Education News reported. Since then, more districts have jumped on board and posted teacher contracts online. But I couldn’t find that information on the Valley School District’s website. —Julie Wootton
Public Records Laws:What You Need to Know, B2 • New Exemptions Making Way through Statehouse, B3 Twin Falls Fields Hundreds of Records Requests, B4 • Coalition Teaches about Open Government, B4
B2 • Sunday, March 6, 2016
Public Records Laws: What You Need to Know HEATHER KENNISON hkennison@magicvalley.com
WIN FALLS • T State and federal public records laws are intended to make information about the public’s business readily available. These laws protect citizens’ rights to monitor their governments’ actions, Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden says in his Idaho Public Records Law Manual. However, governments must continually balance the rights to information against security and individuals’ rights to privacy. Balance is achieved by exempting certain records. Idaho’s public records laws generally apply to all state or local agencies, with exceptions. They do not apply to federal agencies, which fall under the Freedom of Information Act.
State and Local Records
Many state and local records are public by law, said Betsy Russell, president of Idahoans for Open Government and the Idaho Press Club. “It says very strongly that everything is open unless there is a specific exemption.” A change IDOG and the Idaho Press Club pushed for in 2011 made the vast majority of public records free to the public, Russell said. “It made it so the first 100 pages of copying or first two hours of labor are free.” Idahoans can make use of public records to find out whether there are sex offenders in the area, for instance, or what the city spends on street maintenance. “You can find out who voted which way among your local officials so you can decide on who
you’re going to vote for,” Russell said. Many agencies, she said, won’t require you to file a written public records request. However, because some government entities require requests to be in writing, citizens should start by contacting the agency directly to find out. By law, an agency may not ask you why you need the information. A representative may ask questions to assist you with your request or to narrow your search. Wasden’s manual (ag.idaho. gov/publications/legalManuals/ PublicRecordsLaw.pdf) answers a lot of common questions about public records in Idaho, and it outlines exemptions to the law. You’ll find links to the relevant Idaho laws, plus experts’ contact information, on the National Freedom of Information Coalition‘s Idaho website (nfoic.org/
About Idaho’s Public Records Law
• It generally applies to state and local entities — not to federal ones. • Some agencies may require written requests, which may be made by email. Call the agency beforehand to find out its policies. • Entities have three days to respond to your request for information; if it will take longer, they must notify you and have the information within 10 days. • The first 100 pages of your public records request are free. • There is an appeal process if the information is denied, or not sent within the required time — but it is up to you to challenge it. You must file the appeal through the district court of the county in which the records are located. Public bodies are supposed to notify you of the appeal process if information is denied.
Celebrating Access
Sunshine Week is March 13-19. The annual, nationwide celebration of access to public information is organized by the American Society of News Editors and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. Learn more at Sunshineweek.org.
Federal Records
The federal FOIA includes nine categories of exceptions, and Russell doesn’t believe it is as userfriendly as state laws. “Often it requires longer waits and big fees,” she said. The Office of Government Information Services said FOIA applies to federal agencies of the executive branch and occasionally overlaps with other agencies such as joint task forces. “The agency has 20 working days to respond to a request,” compliance team member Kate Gastner said. “It can then ask for 10 additional days.” Fees depend on the category of the request: education, media or other. “Certain categories only pay for search and reproduction, but
Lepin v. Hall (1990) — A requested criminal file was exempt because public disclosure would not shed “light on a governmental agency’s performance of its statutory obligations” and would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. Attorney General’s Legal Guideline (1993) — A city may not pass an ordinance allowing a fee in excess of the actual cost of reproducing requested public records. Dalton v. Idaho Dairy Products Commission (1994) — A list of names of state farmers was a public record subject to disclosure. Federated Publications Inc. v. Schroeder (1994) — An assessor’s list is subject to disclosure so long as the requester complied with Idaho code, and the assessor is required to provide public records only in a reasonable format, not necessarily in the format requested. Bolger v. Alan G. Lance, Idaho State Attorney General (2002) — An individual does not have the right to examine investigatory records about himself during an ongoing investigation. Cowles Publishing Co. v. Kootenai County Board of Commissioners (2007) — Electronic correspondence, even of a personal nature, may constitute a public record if it relates to administration of a public business or explains a public official’s actions — provided that the document is owned, used or retained by a public agency.
DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS FILE PHOTO
Cows eat at a southern Idaho dairy.
receiving the request and assigned it a control number. In the next, the FSA said it processes requests in a “first-in, firstout” basis and said it has 20 working days to respond. In the third paragraph, the FSA said the records I was looking for are available to the public on the FSA website. Nalder gave a link to the web address where I could download the names, addresses and payment information. What we got: From there, I downloaded two spreadsheet files. The first listed every subsidy recipient in the U.S. that had received a payment in 2008 — 6,750 were in Idaho alone — and the other had dollar amounts of each payment in the U.S. Narrowing the search was easy, but I wasn’t confident I had found all the
Source: Idaho Public Records Law Manual payments. The total payments I found for Big Sky Dairy were not as large as the $282,693 total EWG posted on its website. The rest of the information, except for the dollar amounts, was coded, and one type of payment was not readily distinguishable from another — although Nalder gave me a link to an explanation of the codes. In all, 1,212 codes are listed, which include the categories of dairy deficiency, dairy indemnity, milk diversion and dairy termination, for example. Other categories include American Indian livestock feed, clean lakes, rice diversion, loan deficiency and market gains. What you could learn: The USDA’s information is cumbersome. The EWG website is user-friendly, easier to navigate than the USDA’s and made me feel confident I hadn’t missed something. But no matter where you go for the information, you can’t know the details or circumstances surrounding a particular farm’s subsidy payment. For example, you can find out how big a disaster payment a certain farmer received, but you can’t find out whether the payment was for crop damage due to pests, drought or another disaster. —Mychel Matthews
REQUEST: Deputy’s Body Camera Video What we asked for: A copy of footage from a police body-worn camera during the interview of a man suspected of robbing a Burley pharmacy. The exact request: “... access to and a copy of video from the body-worn camera of the deputy identified as ‘365/ MBA’ (possibly Deputy Matt Arthur) during the questioning of robbery suspect Chandler Lee Palmer on Nov. 30, 2014.” Who we asked: Cassia County Sheriff’s Office. No email addresses for the sheriff’s office are listed on the county website, so this request was faxed. What happened next: Just five hours after the request was faxed, an employee of the sheriff’s office responded to the email address included in the request to ask how I would like to get the video. “I am burning the ‘body-worn camera video’ you have requested at this time, will you be coming in to pick up this disc or do you need it mailed to you?” she wrote. “If you prefer to have it mailed please provide me with a valid mailing address for you.” I provided a mailing address Feb. 4,
REQUEST: County Audit What we asked for: A copy of the most recent audit on Minidoka County prepared by Gerald Price & Associates. Who we asked: Patty Temple, county clerk. What happened next: Temple replied to my email later that day, Feb. 3, to tell me she was in a conference in Boise through the week but that once she received a copy of the audit, she’d be able to send it to me. She didn’t
and the sheriff’s office employee sent the video Feb. 5 from Cassia County. It arrived at my Twin Falls apartment Feb. 8. What we got: Inside the manila envelope with bubble-wrap padding was a DVD in a white square envelope. There was also a photocopy of the form request I sent with a handwritten note at the bottom: “This is the only body camera video I have for this case. Mailed back on 02-05-2016.” No payment was requested for the DVD or the postage to send it. What you could learn: In the video, which is just over two minutes long, Arthur is beginning an interview with Palmer, who seems relaxed for being under arrest. Palmer is wearing a Penn State University sweat shirt, blue jeans and tan shoes. Arthur stands in the doorway of an interview room while Palmer sits in a chair against a wall. The conversation between the two men is easy and relaxed as Palmer looks at a stack of paperwork. Later in the video, Arthur
say when she’d have a copy ready. There was nothing in my email that week. On the following Tuesday, I gave Temple a call and left a message asking if she had the record ready to send. Not long after, I had the county audit in my inbox. The total time it took to get the record: five business days. What we got: A 79-page PDF file. What you could learn: The audit contains a list of county taxes for the fiscal year 2015,
other categories don’t have to pay at all,” Gastner said. Requesters can apply for a fee waiver. All FOIA requests must be made in writing — such as fax, email or mail — so they can be documented, she said. Gastner said good communication between the requester and the agency will speed up the process. Gastner recommends visiting the agency’s website before you fill out a request. Some federal agencies post information online, such as the Transportation Security Administration’s customer throughput reports. “Not all agencies are great about proactively posting records,” she said. The Office of Government Information Services can answer FOIA questions at 1-877-6846448.
Highlights: Idaho Cases and Decisions
REQUEST: Farm Subsidy What we asked for: The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 2008 Disaster Program payment for Big Sky Dairy, 30 E. 200 S., Gooding. I knew the dairy had received a payment that year because it showed up on the nonprofit Environmental Working Group’s website. EWG is a content provider for public interest groups. Before making my request, I researched various USDA contacts and called Kent Willett at Oregon’s Farm Service Agency FOIA service center to explain what I was doing and to ask his advice for requesting the info from the Idaho service center, which he gave freely. Willett also said federal FOIA laws are different than state FOIA laws, and because of privacy issues, only certain information is available to the public. Who we asked: I emailed my request to Jeremy Nalder, an agriculture program specialist in Idaho’s Farm Service Agency FOIA service center. What happened next: Nalder replied by email two business days later with FSA-standardized answers. In the first paragraph, the FSA acknowledged
idaho-foi-resources).
DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS FILE PHOTO
Many south-central Idaho law enforcement agencies equip their officers with body cameras. Here, Filer Police Chief Tim Reeves wears a body camera while driving in 2015.
sits down at the table with Palmer and reads the paperwork, which spells out Palmer’s Miranda rights. As Palmer begins to spell his name for the deputy, the video cuts out. —Alex Riggins
fund balances, budgeted use of funds for fiscal 2016, county assets, revenues and the county’s insurance coverage. On one page is a comparison of expenditures in 2014 and 2015; some of the focus areas are weeds, parks and recreation, sheriff, zoning and building and hospital spending. The standouts are an increase of more than $371,000 in “general items” and a decrease of more than $52,000 in “jr college.” I’m going to dig into the latter
more for another story. Auditors made some conclusions made as they looked to the fiscal 2016 budget: Property values haven’t been adversely affected by the economic downturn. A 3 percent limit for property tax dollar increases barely offsets a decrease in other revenues in case major repairs are needed. And the next budget will be impacted by state sales tax revenue and continued reduction in the county’s investments. —Eric Quitugua
REQUEST: Officials’ Emails What we asked for: Emails from April 21, 2015, to May 28, 2015, to and from Jerome County Commission Chairman Charles Howell, Vice Chairman Cathy Roemer and Commissioner Roger Morley regarding a Jerome rendering plant or a plant to process dead stock. Who we asked: I emailed the records request to Howell on Feb. 3, using his email address listed on the county website. What happened next: After receiving an auto-response message — “I am out of the office until Nov 7th Thankyou for the info—-Charlie” — I also sent the same request to Roemer and Morley, using their email addresses listed on the county website. For each of the three, I had to verify I was the one who sent the email. For each, I received a message like this one: “Thank you for verifying your email address. As a trusted sender, your future messages will go directly to Charlie Howell’s inbox. Sendio’s Opt-Inbox technology ensures users receive only the email they want.” Besides the automatic emails that verified I was not a spammer, I received no correspondence. And on the Jerome County website I found no general county email address to send my request to. On Feb. 19, I resent my requests. Within the hour, I received a phone call from Roemer. She said I should have been contacted by the county’s lawyer already. She wanted to know if I had received the information I requested; I told her I had not. What we got: That day, I received a PDF containing 25 pages of emails. The first couple of pages were the original email I sent Feb. 3, and messages between the commissioners letting the others know that they needed to comb through emails sent or received dealing with a rendering plant or a plant to process dead stock. What you could learn: One email is a 14-page article on beekeepers in the West and the effect of pesticides on hives, sent to Morley from Lee Halper, a Jerome resident. Halper also sent Morley a 2015 New York Times story titled “U.S. Details New Efforts to Support Ailing Bees.” The last page is another email from Halper with Idaho’s code for domestic exemption from needing a water right. Domestic purposes are defined as water for homes or public campgrounds that do not exceed 13,000 gallons per day. —Tetona Dunlap
Sunday, March 6, 2016 • B3
REQUEST: Farm Service Agency Minutes What we asked for: The Farm Service Agency’s Cassia County Committee regular and executive meeting minutes during April and May 2015. A county committee, or COC, is a three- to fiveperson board that reviews county office operations and makes program decisions. Board members are elected by other eligible farmers. Who we asked: I emailed Cary Curtis, Cassia County executive director of the USDA’s Farm Service Agency in Burley. What happened next: Curtis replied by email three business days later with standardized answers. In the first paragraph, the FSA acknowledged receiving the request and assigned it a control number. In the next, the FSA said it processes requests on a “first-in, first-out” basis. His reply went on: “FSA as a Federal Government Agency must adhere to the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 552. Accordingly, FSA has 20 working days to respond to a FOIA request. State Public Records Acts do not apply to requests made to FSA. USDA FOIA regulations can be found in 7 CFR Part 1 Subpart A and FSA specific FOIA regulations can be found in 7 CFR Part 798.” What we got: Curtis attached two documents — a total of 23 pages — including the minutes of the May 2015 regular and executive meetings. No meetings were held in April 2015. “With respect to these pages, we are releasing 5 pages in full and releasing 18 pages in-part. We are withholding some of the information on the 18 pages in-part pursuant to Exemption 6 of [5 U.S.C. 552 (b)(6)]” he wrote, explaining why the names of individuals discussed at the executive meeting had been blacked out with a marker. A lengthy clarification followed, saying the agency “is required to perform a ‘balancing test,’ weighing the individual’s right to privacy against the public’s right to disclosure.” What you could learn: The COC regular meeting minutes detail when and where the meeting was held, who attended and the subjects of discussion. Only subjects open to the public are discussed in the regular meeting, such as ongoing drought conditions and how the conditions might affect crops and pastures in the county. The minutes also show when the committee adjourned the regular session and went into executive session without explanation. Afterward, the committee reconvened into regular session. The minutes of the executive session also detail when and where the meeting was held, who attended and the subjects of discussion — mainly farm programs such as the Conservation Reserve Program, Margin Protection Program and Emergency Conservation Program. The minutes then list the individual contracts that were discussed, but individual names are redacted for privacy. According to Kent Willett at Oregon’s Farm Service Agency FOIA service center, the USDA can release either the name of the individual and the amount of money received or the details of that person’s project, but not both. Willett advised calling the FSA first before requesting information to discuss which information is appropriate. —Mychel Matthews
New Public Records Exemptions Making Their Way through Idaho Statehouse NATHAN BROWN nbrown@magicvalley.com
STEPHEN REISS, TIMES-NEWS
Jon Laux, an inspector for the city of Twin Falls, inspects insulation at a construction site Feb. 8.
REQUEST: Building Inspections What we asked for: Building inspections for Mountain America Credit Union at 1061 Blue Lakes Blvd. N. in Twin Falls. Who we asked: Joshua Palmer, city spokesman. What happened next: I sent the email to Palmer on Feb. 3, and he forwarded the request to Wendy Thompson, administrative assistant for the Twin Falls Building Department. The next day she emailed two PDF files. One was all the permits pertaining to Mountain America Credit Union, and the other contained five pages of
emails regarding the project and an ADA-compliant sidewalk. The emails were between Mitchel Humble, deputy city manager; Ben Christensen, the bank’s project manager; and Troy Vitek, assistant city engineer. Thompson wrote in her email: “If you would like information regarding the individual inspections done on each of these permits or if you would like information for the property prior to this project let me know.” What we got: One PDF Thompson sent contained
56 pages of documents including the building permit application, a wastewater questionnaire, sewer capacity worksheet and change of contractor notice, among many others. What you could learn: The documents are rich with specific details about the business and its construction, such as how many employees will work at the bank, the fees the company had to pay to build and open the bank, details on specific construction materials and schematics of structural and mechanical systems. —Tetona Dunlap
REQUEST: Student Test Scores What we asked for: Eighth-grade math test scores (excluding student names) from the Smarter Balanced Assessment, administered in spring 2015. Who we asked: Hansen School District. What happened next: I received a response about two hours after submitting the public records request to Elayne Howell, business manager and board clerk. But it wasn’t from her. I used my personal email address to send the request, but Superintendent Kristin Beck recognized my name and sent a clarification question to my work email later that morning. She asked how I’d like to receive the information
and whether email was OK. Beck also asked whether providing each student’s gender, race, scale score and achievement level would satisfy the request. I replied saying it would, and I received the records about 20 minutes later. The entire process concluded within 2 1/2 hours. What we got: The information came in an Excel spreadsheet with columns for gender, race/ ethnicity, grade, school, mathematics scale score and mathematics achievement level. The document also includes an explanation of the achievement levels — which scores fall into which levels. What you could learn: Of the 30 eighth-graders
REQUEST: Food Inspections What we asked for: Copies of the food health inspection reports for Burley businesses from Dec. 1, 2015, to Jan. 15. Who we asked: South Central Public Health District. What happened next: The agency’s public information officer sent an email within four hours of my Feb. 3 request, saying the request had been turned over to Josh Jensen, the district’s public health program manager. Jensen called 24 hours after the original request was filed and asked for clarification on what types of businesses to include in the report. I pared down the request to include only restaurants. Jensen said the request would need to be refiled on the health district’s public records request form, and he asked for
what purpose the records would be used. He also suggested that I look online and see if the information I was requesting was there. I filled out the health district’s request form immediately. The requested records were received at 5:35 p.m. Feb. 9. What we got: The health district sent an electronic file containing eight food establishment inspection reports and three food establishment inspection forms. What you could learn: In the three forms, one business did not have any critical violations; another, McDonald’s, did not have any critical violations but was told to make sure water was not leaking onto the ice machine. A Dec. 2 inspection at Taco Bell in North Burley revealed that the
REQUEST: Building Permit Application What we asked for: The most recent building permit and permit application for a business setting up at 129 W. Main St. in Burley. I’d heard rumors a few times since last year about the type of business that could be moving there. Who we asked: Gary Pawson, Burley’s chief building official. What happened next: I didn’t get a response from Pawson that day, Feb. 3, so I called his office the next day and left a message. His secretary, Melissa Lee, called back and told me Pawson was in Las Vegas for the rest of the week. She said she’d be able to help me instead. When I told Lee what I was looking for, she said I could find the application on the department’s website but if I had any trouble she’d find it, scan it and send it to me. On the website I found a list of links to PDFs for permit
DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS FILE PHOTO
Hansen School District Superintendent Kristin Beck teaches math in 2014. in Hansen last year, only nine met or exceeded standards in math. That’s 30 percent — below the state average of 37 percent. Top performers include boys and girls, as well as white and Hispanic/Latino students. Eight students received a “1” — the lowest possible ranking. —Julie Wootton facility’s sinks were not in proper working order and employees were not washing their hands consistently, an inspector reported; the restaurant was also not keeping food storage off the floor. The eight reports list the number of risk factor violations and retail practice violations along with the number of repeat violations for each. Only one business, Taco Bell in North Burley, showed any violations in these reports, for a Dec. 16 inspection. The business again received a critical violation for employees not washing their hands and exposed portions of their arms. The business did not have a hand-washing lavatory equipped to provide water at the appropriate temperature, and food storage was not being kept 6 feet from the floor, an inspector reported. —Laurie Welch
applications — but not the one filled out by this business. I gave Lee a call to explain more clearly what I was looking for, and she told me she’d be able to find the permit application and email it the following Monday. Monday came and there wasn’t anything in my email. It turns out she wrote my email address wrong when we spoke, but after she took my address down again, the filled-out application in a PDF file was in my inbox. In all, it took five business days to get the record. What we got: A two-page PDF file containing the application but not a permit. What you could learn: The application was submitted to the city May 5 and cost nearly $1,700. It did not say what kind of business is moving in. The application just described the nature of the work: a building remodeling to the tune of $225,000. The owners are listed as Bret and Ty Taylor, and the contractor is J&L Electric, with contact information listed for both. —Eric Quitugua
OISE • Several new public records exempB tions are making their way through the Statehouse this year. Most of these bills go through the House State Affairs Committee, which is more often in the headlines for the divisive social issues that go through it but which also takes up most legislation related to public records and election disclosure. A bill to redact from election filings the cell phone numbers and email addresses of absentee voters, political candidates, campaign treasurers and lobbyists was printed in the committee in late February. A phone number, such as a home or business number, would remain publicly available when it comes to candidates, treasurers and lobbyists, but absentee voters’ contact information would be completely redacted. The first version would have gone further, redacting any cell number even when that was the only number provided. The Newspaper Association of Idaho and the Idaho Press Club objected to this one, one of the objections being that a candidate for office should have a publicly available telephone number in his or her filings. That version was pulled due to what House State Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, called “ghosts” in the legislation — Statehouse talk for a bill that has run into opposition for mysterious reasons. “We listened to some of the concerns people had, and we think it addresses those concerns,” deputy Secretary of State Tim Hurst said when introducing the second version. “It incorporates the changes that were brought up.” Another new exemption making its way through the Legislature, brought by the Idaho Consumer-Owned Utilities Association, would exempt from disclosure records relating to “critical infrastructure” such as schools, dams and cell towers, if they could, in the agency’s judgment, endanger public safety. Its supporters said this new exemption would protect records and building plans that could be used by someone wishing to attack them. “Do we want to release information that could increase their vulnerabilities and increase the risk of a terrorist attack?” asked floor sponsor Rep. Don Cheatham, R-Post Falls, during the debate. It passed the House 63-4, with a handful of the House’s most conservative Republicans voting against it. However, the Senate State Affairs Committee held the bill after a lengthy hearing on Wednesday, intending to make the circumstances under which an agency can withhold records more narrow than the “could” be used to jeopardize persons or property in the original bill. Rep. Caroline Troy, R-Genesee, is sponsoring a bill to exempt from disclosure the documents people must file with their county sheriff when buying weapons regulated under the National Firearms Act. It passed House State Affairs on a party-line vote. While one Democratic lawmaker said he had a problem in principle with creating too many public records exemptions, the debate focused as much on gun control as it did on the public records issue. The bill’s supporters said it would protect people who might own a fully automatic weapon, suppressor, sawed-off shotgun or other regulated item from potential burglars. A bill to remove the requirement for a “benefit corporation” — a corporation that could pursue charitable goals rather than just maximizing profits — to file a copy of its report with the Secretary of State’s office has passed the House unanimously. The report would still be publicly available, but if the bill passes you would need to get the report from the corporation itself, rather than the state. The corporations would have to post them online if they have websites. The Senate State Affairs Committee approved the proposal Wednesday, sending it on to the full Senate. Another records-related bill would allow cities to save certain “non-historic” records in digital form only. The current law requires them to keep paper copies. This one has been referred to the House’s amending order, to add some wording recommended by the Idaho State Historical Society to ensure preservation of records with historic value. A couple of bills would increase disclosure in some areas, including one that would require employees of state government agencies and public educational institutions to report gifts to lawmakers and executive officials the same way lobbyists must now. Hurst gave meals, entertainments and tickets to sports games as examples of gifts. They would have to be itemized individually if they are worth more than $105, but smaller amounts could be lumped together. “So if they give you a really good meal they have to report that; if they take you to McDonald’s they don’t,” Hurst said. The bill passed the House unanimously and is awaiting action in the Senate. Another bill that would have increased disclosure was killed by the Senate State Affairs Committee over concerns about the burden of compliance on small cities and districts. The bill would have required campaign finance reports to be filed by everyone running for office (currently candidates in smaller cities and school districts are exempt) and by groups backing or opposing a bond or ballot measure.
B4 • Sunday, March 6, 2016
Contractor Pay, Utility Bills, Police Records ... Twin Falls Fields Hundreds of Records Requests Each Year MYCHEL MATTHEWS mmatthews@magicvalley.com
WIN FALLS • The city makes T it easy to request public records. Most of the time a simple phone call will get the ball rolling. “We try to make it easy for the person requesting, as well as city staff,” said Joshua Palmer, city spokesman. “Say someone calls in asking how much the city paid a contractor. It’s easy to put that person in direct contact
with the department that keeps those records.” About 50 public records requests were handled last year in this informal way, Palmer said. “It’s simple and it saves paperwork.” But for those who need a paper trail, record requests can be mailed, faxed, brought into the city office or submitted online. Palmer, a former Times-News reporter, has been “on both sides of the telephone,” he said. Twin Falls has denied only two requests in the three years Palmer has been with the city. One of the denied requests was for a document that contained proprietary information about Clif
Bar’s operation when the nutrition bar company came to town. The other asked for security system information from a building permit for Twin Falls High School. “ We d e c i d e d it was a matter of student safety and turned it over to our school resource officers (city police) Palmer and they were able to work with them,” Palmer said. It turned out that the company sold security system equipment and wanted to pitch its product to the school district. The bulk of record requests
to the city are from companies or attorneys asking for title, police and fire records for insurance claims, he said. The Twin Falls Police Department, which handles its own records requests, received 212 requests in 2015. The city clerk’s office received 106 last year. “We had requests for everything from campaign finance records, declarations of candidacy, to doorto-door sales licenses, requests for ordinances, resolutions and contracts, to payroll and utility billing,” Deputy City Clerk Sharon Bryan said. Most requests are legitimate. “I’ve been here for 39 years and
don’t recall anything that was odd,” Bryan said. And she’s never had a denial challenged. “The law is pretty black and white.” Not many people abuse the system, Palmer said. There are, however, a few companies that troll public records looking for overdue accounts, then sell the information to collection agencies. “These companies — data miners — are fairly aggressive,” he said. Sometimes pulling records together can be time consuming. “I remind myself that we are public servants,” he said. “Once (an agency) loses the public trust it can take years to get it back.”
State Coalition Teaches about Open Government HEATHER KENNISON hkennison@magicvalley.com
STEPHEN REISS, TIMES-NEWS
Ted Provost plays with his dogs in his Burley backyard Feb. 18. City residents’ applications for dog licenses are public records.
REQUEST: Info on Licensed Dogs What we asked for: A list of all the Burley residents who purchased city licenses for their dogs from Jan. 1, 2015, through Jan. 1, as well as the given names and breeds of all the dogs licensed in the city. Who we asked: The city of Burley. What happened next: Within seven hours, City Clerk Ellen Maier responded with a phone
call. She said the city could immediately comply with a printout of all the names and addresses of dog owners. But the information on dog names and breeds is included in registration forms filled out by dog owners and put into a binder. There are about 1,400 registrations, and Maier provided a cost of $44.30 to copy them, which took into account the 100 free
copies the city is required to supply. I revised my request, asking for a subset: the 10 most recent registration forms. What we got: The list of dog owners was sent via email overnight, and I picked up the copies of registration forms at City Hall at 9:30 a.m. the day following my request. What you could learn: The spreadsheet’s alphabetical listing of dog owners includes their addresses,
how many dogs they own and the dogs’ license numbers. Each animal license application includes the owner’s name, address and phone number, and the dog’s breed, color, sex and name. Among the 29 applications I received, four were for replacement tags. Three of the 29 dogs were named Max, eight were Chihuahuas and 18 were male. —Laurie Welch
REQUEST: Lawmakers’ Emails What we asked for: Correspondence sent and received by the House and Senate Health and Welfare Committee chairmen between Oct. 1, 2015, and Feb. 3, regarding either Medicaid expansion or the Primary Care Access Program. Who we asked: Rep. Fred Wood, R-Burley, and Sen. Lee Heider, R-Twin Falls, chairmen of the House and Senate committees, respectively. What happened next: Both lawmakers referred my Feb. 3 request to the Legislative Services Office. LSO sent the records, by mail, to my apartment in Boise. (Next time, I should specify I work in the building.) I stopped at LSO on Feb. 11 and was told they had been sent. I received them Feb. 15. What we got: Two manila envelopes full of printouts
of emails. What you could learn: Heider, whose committee held a hearing on Medicaid expansion Feb. 2, had received by far the most correspondence on the subject — including 16 emails just on Feb. 2. Of them, 14 were from expansion supporters, one opposed Medicaid expansion and one opposed PCAP. The Medicaid expansion and PCAP opponents were both doctors. Out of the 14 supporters, two identified themselves as nurses and two as working at community health clinics. Heider’s correspondence also included the briefing materials provided by the governor’s office in advance of the January press conference at which Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter, Health and Welfare Director Dick Armstrong
REQUEST: Governor’s Emails What we asked for: Correspondence sent and received between Oct. 1, 2015, and Feb. 3 discussing either Medicaid expansion or the Primary Care Access Program. Who we asked: Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter’s office, on Feb. 3. What happened next: Otter’s office asked for the 10-day extension allowed under law. I received the correspondence Feb. 17. What we got: Three PDF files worth of emails, the shortest being 45 pages and the longest being 163. What you could learn: The 163-page file mostly consisted of drafts and
discussion of the PCAP proposal, revealing some of the discussion of PCAP funding options and interactions between the governor’s office, the Department of Health and Welfare and the Community Health Center Network of Idaho in putting the plan together, preparing for its public rollout and asking questions about it. Then, there was a 112page file of constituent emails, most of them asking the governor to back Medicaid expansion or the hybrid “Healthy Idaho” plan. Some of them were from people telling their stories about struggling
DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS FILE PHOTO
Sen. Lee Heider, R-Twin Falls, center, applauds the governor after the 2016 State of the State address Jan. 11 at the Idaho Capitol. and the two committee chairmen rolled out the details of the PCAP proposal. Wood’s emails were mostly from the same person, a Medicaid expansion supporter who sends the
entire House and Senate — and most of the state-level officials and press corps in Idaho — copied-and-pasted news articles prefaced with his own commentary on the topic. —Nathan Brown
with health problems in the “Medicaid gap” and asking for help. A number of them referenced the story of Jenny Steinke, an Idaho Falls woman who fell in the gap and died in 2015 after suffering a severe asthma attack. A few of them were angry — one man wrote that the governor and the GOP leadership were “no better than ISIS” for refusing to expand Medicaid. “I fought for this nation and the State of Idaho, now I have to question did I do the right thing,” he wrote. There were also a few emails from Sen. Steve Thayn, R-Emmett, replying to constituents who support Medicaid expansion. Thayne opposes
expansion, saying it would drive up health care costs for everyone else and impact health care providers negatively by, he wrote in one email, underpaying them and encouraging them to turn patients away. Thayn said he favors focusing on primary care and on measures to reduce health care costs, saying Idaho should follow the lead of places like Singapore and Japan. The third file, 45 pages long, was again mostly discussion of PCAP and fact sheets and other documents that were prepared while getting ready to release the details of the program to the public. —Nathan Brown
WIN FALLS • T State and local governments affect citizens’ daily lives, but often small governments, media and the public don’t understand open meeting and open record laws. Free sessions offered by a nonprofit Idaho coalition aim to change that, but you’ll have to wait until fall for the next round of offerings. Betsy Russell, a Boise-based journalist for The SpokesmanReview, and Dean Miller, then-editor of the Post Register in Idaho Falls, in 2004 Russell formed Idahoans for Openness in Government, a broadbased coalition. “Its mission is to educate people about Idaho’s open government laws … to encourage compliance,” said Russell, IDOG’s president. The group formed after Russell attended a conference of the National Freedom of Information Coalition. “I was surprised to learn that Idaho was one of just a few states that didn’t have a freedom of information coalition of its own,” she said. To educate government agencies, the public and the media, IDOG partnered with the state attorney general’s office and has hosted about three dozen seminars across the state. “It’s been a huge success,” said IDOG board member Bill Manny, Idaho Statesman editor. Small governments often have small budgets and staff who don’t understand open government laws, Manny said. “It’s easy for the media to kind of wag its finger at local government.” It’s almost by instinct that they may choose not to make something public, Manny said. Attorney General Lawrence Wasden said rules and regulations provide a “sheet of music” to eliminate disputes. The IDOG seminars are a continuation of his efforts to educate groups about what the rules are. Accessing public records is a large part of how a republican form of government operates, Wasden said. “Our greatest weakness is public participation — or lack thereof.” Each three-hour session brings groups together to begin a conversation. On one occasion, an official and a reporter began a session arguing. At the end of the day, they were having a discussion. Wasden said it was an example of breaking through animosity and beginning a conversation. Wasden facilitates skits for government officials and members of the media. At times, Manny said, the two play each other’s roles in the scenarios. “I really think they’re making a difference,” Russell said. Wasden sees confusion from participants regarding the role he plays. “In the area of open records, I don’t have any enforcement authority,” Wasden said. The sole remedy for those who believe they have been wrongfully refused information is the courts. With open meeting laws, however, the attorney general has enforcement power with state agencies. Videos of the IDOG seminars are available to the public — along with information about open government laws, news stories and other resources — at Openidaho.org. IDOG receives grant funding through the National Freedom of Information Coalition, but the attorney general’s office pays its own expenses. Educational seminars take place three to four times a year and rotate between regions. This fall’s free sessions will be in eastern Idaho, and details will be posted on the IDOG website.