A wide-ranging and often heated discussion Tuesday of how the county handles records requests saw one county supervisor leave the dais unexpectedly and the remaining board members direct the county staff to rethink records policies.
The possibility that one of Supervisor Ally Millerโs staff members created a sympathetic news website on county time led to a number of records requests from several media outlets over the last month, including the Arizona Daily Star.
The manner in which those requests have been responded to has raised questions about some of the public-records policies the county has in place, several supervisors said during their regular Tuesday meeting.
โI think what has become really very clear in this discussion is that our current policy stinks,โ Supervisor Ramรณn Valadez said. โMore importantly, it doesnโt work.โ
Some of those requests had to do with emails and other information that may be on personal devices, like computers and cellphones. However, the countyโs chief information officer, Jesse Rodriguez, told the board that his office is unable to track activity on such devices, as they are able to with county-owned equipment.
โUnless we had a court order we would not be able to ask the individual for access to their personal phones and equipment,โ he added.
Thomas Weaver, deputy county attorney, said county business done on personal devices or email is subject to state records laws, though it is sometimes more challenging to retrieve that information and more so when that employee no longer works for the county. That is the case with the Miller staffer in question, Timothy DesJarlais, who resigned several weeks ago, Weaver pointed out.
Rodriguez said the county is taking โactions โฆ to try and address this very issue,โ including moving away from allowing employees to use their own devices to a โpolicy where if you have the need to have a cellphone, the county will provide you that cellphone and we will control all aspects of the use of that cellphone.โ There is no such policy currently, he said in response to a question from Supervisor Sharon Bronson.
Robin Brigode, the boardโs clerk, told the Star that Miller and some staff members told her they had not used private devices or email to do county business. Brigode also said that while the county doesnโt have a countywide policy regarding such practices, it does instruct all employees about what constitutes a public record.
However, the Tucson Sentinelโs Dylan Smith, who is also requesting records from Millerโs office, told the board that there were โpiles of evidenceโ in records already released to him and others that personal emails were used.
In response to a question from Bronson about whether she would turn over records from her personal devices, Miller said she will โprovide any records that are related to county business.โ
Miller, who left the meeting abruptly shortly before noon for what she called an โurgent appointment,โ did not respond to followup questions about the alleged use of private devices and emails in her office or the nature of her appointment.
There were a number of tense exchanges and pointed comments directed at Miller during the meeting, with Supervisor Ray Carroll at one point accusing Miller of lying and Miller earlier responding that she โwill not be interrogated by Supervisor Carroll.โ
Questions were also raised about the manner in which records released so far were redacted, work Brigode said was done by Millerโs office.
In his comments to the board, Smith said portions of emails and other records he received were โoddly, inconsistently and unjustifiably redacted,โ and responses were โbeyond any reasonable interpretation of prompt.โ
Bronson said the county does not have โa very cohesive policyโ when it comes to how redaction of records is done and who is responsible for doing it.
To address some of the issues brought up by recent records requests to Millerโs office and requests to come, Valadez proposed directing the staff to develop a โrealistic policyโ that clarifies time limits for requests and who redacts records, while also ensuring โtimely, prompt and accurateโ responses.
Additionally, the motion directed Brigode and her staff to redact materials from Millerโs office using criteria to be developed by the county staff this week, and quickly provide them to the outlets that requested them.
The measure passed 4-0 after Miller had left.
After the meeting, Brigode declined to say how much providing the records would cost the outlets, but said it would be โlessโ than the more-than $1,000 bill Miller recently sent to the Star and Sentinel.
