Note to Florence and every other Arizona city and town: Stop making side agreements and secret deals to hide public records from … well … the public.
   Tribune writer Sarah Boggan has a story today about a court ruling in Pinal County that Florence must release a taxpayer-funded study of the possible purchase of the Johnson Utilities water system. Relying on this study, Florence officials offered $190 million to buy the water system, but Johnson Utilities decided to not go through with the sale. That’s when Boggan discovered that as part of the negotiations, Florence promised to tip off Johnson Utilities if anyone asked to see the study so Johnson could get a judge to keep it secret.
   Tuesday’s court decision reflects what the Tribune Editorial Board previously called for: access to general research about the water system which might have influenced Florence’s decisions while withholding any unique business practice details or proprietary information. This is what Florence should have done in the first place, instead of giving a private business control even temporary control of public records.
   Florence isn’t alone with this. When I covered Chandler in 1999 and 2000, the city attorney’s office routinely delayed release of any records related to city employees so those employees would have time to go court and try to block their release. No one ever did when I was involved, and the Tribune has subsequently demonstrated in court with Scottsdale that such employee records are open to the public and should be immediately released.
   More recently, Tribune writer Katie McDevitt spent weeks arguing with the Chandler Police Department about seeing reports on an internal affairs investigation of several officers who had looked up another officer’s personal vehicle license plate just out of curiosity, not for official business. I have to wonder if someone within the department was hoping the officers involved or their police union would go to court to keep the investigation secret. Once McDevitt firmly pressed Chandler police to show her what law allowed the agency to withhold the report, the city finally released it.
   Such tactics significantly test the patience of average citizens and interfere with the public’s ability to monitor what government does in our name. It should come to an end, now.