P.O. Box 548, 132 Fairfield St. West, Twin Falls, ID 83303-0548 (208) 733-0931
Jan. 21, 2016 Dear Judges:
I humbly nominate Times-News reporters Laurie Welch and Eric Quitugua for the Idaho Press Club First Amendment Award for uncovering egregious violations of Idaho’s open records laws and triggering a state investigation into a high-profile police committee. Cassia County has policed the city of Burley for 30 years under a deal in which the city pays the county for law enforcement services. But recently, the city began to question whether it was getting its money’s worth. Negotiations broke down, and the two governments appointed a joint committee to review the deal and make recommendations for reaching a long-term arrangement. Welch and Quitugua obtained emails from the committee’s chairman that showed the panel was colluding to hide information from reporters and the public. Further public-records requests for hundreds of pages of the committee’s emails uncovered a pattern of open-records and open-meetings violations. Faced with the evidence, the chairman admitted to duping the public. Because Welch and Quitugua’s analysis of the records showed such a blatant and malicious disregard for Idaho’s open-records laws, the newspaper petitioned the Idaho Attorney General’s Office to investigate rather than seek a local special prosecutor. As a result of Welch and Quitugua’s reporting, the attorney general opened an investigation, and it is ongoing. These violations would have gone unnoticed if not for these reporters’ dogged pursuit of the truth. Stories on the committee’s collusion were met with outrage from the public, and the county and city have postponed adopting the committee’s recommendations as the state investigates. Readers praised the reporters for holding the government accountable and helping to ensure that public business is always done in public. For these reasons, I believe Welch and Quitugua are deserving of the First Amendment Award, and I appreciate your consideration.
Matt Christensen Times-News Editor