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EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Charles (Kip) Purcell President Terri Cole Vice President Kent Walz Secretary Patrick J. Rogers Treasurer EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Sarah Welsh DIRECTORS Kathi Bearden Hobbs Billie Blair Santa Fe Dana Bowley Los Lunas David Cargo Albuquerque Del Esparza Albuquerque Martin Esquivel Albuquerque David Gomez Santa Fe Charles Goodmacher Rio Rancho Karl E. Johnson Albuquerque Melanie Majors Albuquerque Martha Mauritson Carlsbad Paula Murphy Raton Iain Munro Albuquerque Charles R. Peifer Albuquerque Arthur Schreiber Albuquerque Phoebe Latimer Spencer Hobbs Kyla Thompson Albuquerque Robert B. Trapp Espaola Robert White Albuquerque Greg Williams Albuquerque Daniel Yohalem Santa Fe
115 Gold Ave. SW, Suite 201 Albuquerque, NM 87112 (505) 764-3750 (505) 764-3711 fax info@nmfog.org www.nmfog.org
drafters also knew that the government would throw up roadblocks to prevent or delay the release of unflattering records. So IPRA has a few clear and straightforward guidelines. 1. No one asking for records can be required to state the purpose of their request. Political requesters may be playing politics, commercial requesters may be making money, and muckraking citizens may be educating the public (or playing politics and making money). It's irrelevant. Each person has the same right to see public information. After all, do we really want the government deciding who is worthy and unworthy of checking the facts? 2. The government has to release requested records, within 15 days, unless there's another law that allows withholding. Trust us, well release it according to our schedule does not suffice as a response. 3. If the government denies your request without a valid reason, or just drags its feet indefinitely, you can sue them. And if you win, they have to reimburse you for the time and money you spent fighting in court. Again, although IPRA lawsuits often play a part in larger policy and political dramas, the battle over information is ultimately not a partisan struggle. It is a struggle between the few who happen to be in power at the moment, and the rest of us. If citizens want to hold a position of power, exercising control of our government, we must support a strong and enforceable Inspection of Public Records Act. A strong records law ensures that no matter who we are or what we believe, we can each be as informed and engaged as we want to be. Its important that we know our rights, and that we exercise them. That's what the Republican Party was doing when it sued the Office of the Governor in 2006, and that's what the ACLU did last week when it sued the Secretary of State's Office. These groups defense of the publics right to know accrues to the benefit of all of us.