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Because it Still Matters - The Ada County Board of Commissions The recording you are listening to is the last 10 minutes of an interview two of the current County Commissioners, Fred Tilman, and Rick Yzaguirre Yzaguirre, held with, Michael Petrak, the publisher of The Idaho Statesman on September 2, 2005. Mr. Petrak's voice is rendered rather poorly. The voice of Commissioner Tilman and (then Commissioner) Peavey-Derr come through loud and clear. Yzaguirre was at the meeting, but, usual, let Tilman do his talking. Another voice you will hear occasionally is that of Ada County Attorney Ted Argyle. Given the general tone of this interview, the commissioner's ultimate prosecution for violating the open meeting law seems inevitable. This is a group that does not like their constituents to know what they are doing. For instance, in the course of the recording, Judy Peavey-Derr incorrectly states that the county has to charge for public records. Please note that Idaho State law allows counties to charge for public records, but does not require it. Ada County also plays favorites with this tactic. Groups such as STP, and The Statesman, have to specifically request, and get charged for, every scrap of paper they receive. However, STP has found instances of County Commission files being simply turned over to developers such as Skyline, no information request, no log of materials transferred, no charge, no problem. Peavey-Derr also says it is county policy to not fax materials to people requesting information. It may be policy, but it is also a cop out. Refusing to fax materials to people is simply a ruse to slow the flow of information to the public and charge for material that ought to be free. All of the county's public information should be available for free on the internet. The recording you are listening to is a case in point. It cost STP a freedom of information act request, $1.50, and a few days wait for the transaction to process. There is no reason the county could not provide access to the recording over the internet, any time you want it, free of charge, the same way you are receiving it now. Regards, Note - The audio player in QuickTime format. If your computer is not so |
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