California governor vetoes bill allowing fines for open-records violations
The Associated Press
10.11.99
Printer-friendly page
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Gray Davis has vetoed a bill that would have allowed fines to be levied against public agencies that break California's open-records law.
Under the bill, a judge would have decided whether $100-per-day penalties would be imposed. The bill also called for the state attorney general's office to issue advisories on the validity of open-records complaints.
In Davis' explanation for the veto issued on Oct. 9, the governor said he had signed another bill that made it impossible for him to sign the public-records bill without creating conflicts of interest.
The previous bill requires state agencies to obtain legal counsel only from the attorney general or his employees. The law applies to any legal matter related to the agency's work for the state.
Davis said that if he signed the public-records bill, the attorney general's office could potentially issue an opinion about an agency it was representing in a legal matter, hence the conflict of interest.
The bill "creates an attorney general appeals process that will lead to inherent conflicts of interest between the attorney general and his major clients, the state agencies and departments," Davis wrote.
Therefore, according to Davis, the public-records bill would result in the need for costly outside legal counsel.
First Amendment advocates had hoped the bill would go a long way toward winning compliance from agencies that ignore California's open-records law.
"You can have a law that on its face is as favorable as possible, but if agencies can ... ignore your requests, or come up with unjustified reasons for saying no, or can freely drag their feet or defy the law, then it really doesn't make much difference what the law says," said Terry Francke of the California First Amendment Coalition.
The California Public Records Act makes all state and local government records available to the public and the media, with exceptions for specified personnel records, law enforcement reports and documents protected by the attorney-client privilege.
Other supporters of the bill — which was sponsored by Sen. Byron Sher, D-Stanford — included the Planning and Conservation League and the Sierra Club. Among the opponents were the cities of Los Angeles, San Diego and Poway.
The city of Los Angeles objected to the bill's giving the attorney general the opportunity to advise on the validity of complaints.
Los Angeles city lobbyist Leslie McFadden said only judges should have such authority.
The measure had passed 78-0 in the Assembly and 40-0 in the Senate.
