The elected officials of local cities should tell the Association of Idaho Cities to quit trying to block a legitimate avenue of appeal for citizens of their communities who feel they have been denied access to public records. The principle of openness outshines any petty arguments over so-called local control. This week, a representative of the cities group tried to derail an effort by a coalition of media groups to offer reasonable legislation to give citizens a way to appeal denial of public records requests other than hiring an attorney and filing a lawsuit. The lack of an alternative is the most glaring flaw of the state's public records law, which is intended to make records available to citizens cheaply and conveniently. The media coalition wants to pass a law where a citizen could go to the state's public records ombudsman to challenge an agency's decision/Tom Grote, publisher of McCall Star-News (via Lewiston Tribune). More here.

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