The public's right to know

My appreciation for the Irwindale City Clerk's office reached a whole new level today when a request I made at 11:30 a.m. was ready for my pick up just two hours later. The request - two staff reports that were prepared in April of last year - was not complicated.

But I have made similar requests at other city halls, and the staff makes it seem like I asked for the Dead Sea Scrolls. Take Montebello, for example. Yesterday, I spent all day requesting copies of contracts that should have been made available to me on Tuesday. It wasn't until five phone calls and a written records request that I got what I needed - at 5 p.m.

City hall's aren't the only ones who give us at the newsroom a hard time. Reporter Brian Day spent four hours today and over a dozen calls haggling with the Sheriff's department to get a name of a murder suspect. And after all that, the cops said nope, you won't get it. Wait till the press conference tomorrow.

As much as I know how reporters can be a pain, it's our right and the public's right to have this information. When agencies stall, it makes us wonder what they're trying to hide. Irwindale does not have the cleanest record in the world, but at least their clerk's office is efficient.