County’s public records should be open to public

T he year-long legal fight over public records between the Clovis News Journal and Curry County has ended.

Who won? The public’s right to know.

The county failed in its aggressive efforts to prevent public scrutiny of its payroll records. And the ongoing discussions in the city and county over fair pay for public employees prove how these records can provide perspective to the public and decision-makers.

The county finally prevailed last week in what became a legal mumbo-jumbo battle in court with the News Journal.

The newspaper failed to secure a legal verdict that could have prevented the county from repeating its unconscionable actions. The case never was tried on the merits, but at least county residents were given a look at a public payroll and sunshine slipped inside the too-often secret world of this county’s government.

A state district court judge ruled in November the CNJ made procedural errors in filing its lawsuit against the county -- the defendant was not properly named -- and so he declined to hear arguments on the merits of the case. Last week, Judge Joe Parker declined to reconsider his earlier ruling. The judge declared the case moot because the county turned over the pay data four days after the lawsuit was filed.

In the end, Curry County paid its attorney more than $6,000 to put out a fire it started.

Readers should know the News Journal did not want to sue our county courthouse neighbors. Here’s why we did, though:

n In recent years, Curry County has had a history of trying to conduct public business in secret. Three years ago, the county refused multiple requests over several months to release information about the death of a jail inmate. Only the CNJ’s repeated legal threats pried the information out of the darkness.

n About the same time, County Sheriff Roger Hatcher complained that commissioners were conducting secret budget discussions.

n Until recently, Curry County officials had repeatedly defied New Mexico’s Open Meetings Act by refusing to tell taxpayers what they discussed in executive sessions.

n When county officials withheld the public payroll records last year — they twice refused to hand them over, in writing — we felt a lawsuit was the only option. Retired County Manager Geneva Cooper, county attorney Steve Doerr and the board of county commissioners refused to hand over the documents. That bluster clearly said to us and others that the county dared the newspaper -- or anyone else -- to hold it accountable in court.

Bluff called. We sued.

Most taxpayers don’t have the money, the will, or the time to force government to follow laws it creates. We do. And we’re prepared to do it again if necessary.

The press has an obligation to tell elected officials and hired government hands that we’re serious about forcing them to step out of the dark when it conducts the public’s business.

Another way to say it, in the words of Alan Bell, our parent company’s chief executive officer: “The greatest moments in the history of the press come not when journalists make common cause with the state, but when they stand FEARLESSLY independent of it.”

“Greatest” is not always big leaps, but tiny ones that shed light on things so we can move with more certainty toward a brighter future.

What did our pay stories reveal? Nothing improper. We learned women leaders at Clovis Community College fare better than many females in public life; we learned Curry County lags well behind everyone else, no matter the gender. We learned pay levels of law enforcement officials, the most controversial elements in the public pay disputes we’re hearing about even now.

Our message to government leaders who ignore open-government laws is simple: We believe many of you want to and do follow the law. When you don’t we will spotlight your actions, we will demand legal compliance and, if necessary, we will take you to court. And we won’t play never-ending word games about what the law requires.

Listen to your legal counsel, but know the law yourself. Get a second legal opinion and call the state attorney general’s office independent of your lawyers.

We could have continued to send a message in this case and appealed Judge Parker’s ruling to a higher court. But in cash-strapped Curry County we don’t want taxpayers (who include us) to continue to pay, and we hope the lesson about open government is learned. We also believe new County Manager Dick Smith will have more respect for open government than Cooper, who retired in December. He is a critical thinker who questions and guides in a much more open fashion.

For example, Smith complied with a recent News Journal request for records of all attorney fees the county has incurred the past two years. And he’s had press releases sent out on recent jail troubles — without anyone having to ask.

That’s a refreshing start toward repairing years of damage to Curry County’s credibility.

We hope Curry County will remain in the sunshine when conducting the public’s business.