The CPUC has multiple barriers to prevent the public from learning about its handling of deadly disasters and corporate scandals, an investigation found.
, a review of court cases and state documents found.
According to Steve Zansberg, the Denver-based attorney for ABC10, the case poses a fundamental question: Is the commission above the state law that requires all agencies to promptly release records about how they conduct public business? Matthew Cate, the Washington, D.C., attorney who filed a brief on behalf of the organizations, wrote that the commission has a history of “unlawful delays” in responding to requests and that its practices could encourage other agencies to erect similar obstacles to public information.
The commission tends to interpret the scope of requested records narrowly, while applying exemptions from disclosure broadly, effectively reducing public access to information. With all other California agencies, requesters may seek review in a local Superior Court. But for the commission they may seek review only in state appeals courts or the California Supreme Court, forums that are more complicated and costly, effectively deterring independent review of denials.
But attorneys for requesters noted that employees of other agencies also face criminal penalties for improperly releasing information, such as rap sheets or medical records. Voters bolstered the law in 2004 when they overwhelmingly passed Proposition 59, which embedded these words in the state Constitution: “The people have the right of access to information concerning the conduct of the people’s business, and, therefore, the meetings of public bodies and the writings of public officials and agencies shall be open to public scrutiny.”
Emergency crews inspect a San Bruno neighborhood after a PG&E gas main exploded, killing at least four people and destroying nearly 40 homes in September 2010. Under the settlement, the commission reviewed its public records procedures. San Bruno urged it to adopt deadlines to end the “potentially endless appeals process that it completely controls.”
The commission denied Aguirre’s claims and asked the court to dismiss his lawsuit because he had not applied for a rehearing at the agency until after he sued. Since that application was pending, it said, the court had no jurisdiction.In a separate federal lawsuit, Aguirre and his law partner, Maria Severson, won commission approval later that year of a revised decision saving ratepayers $775 million on the plant closure.
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