Ms. Zoldan,

Please accept this as the Department’s response.  I appreciate the opportunity to provide our point of view.

This blog posting is inaccurate or misleading is some respects.  Whatever one’s opinion of greyhound racing, it is not acceptable to state or imply things that are not fact.

The opening two sentences, in the form of a question and answer, are a good place to start.  The Arizona Department of Racing (ADOR), like all other state agencies, must comply with the law with respect to Public Records Requests (PRR).  It has done so and it will continue to do so.  ADOR has not “denied” any request.  If a PRR asks for documents that ADOR does not maintain, the department responds to the individual/organization with a written form stating, “The Department does not maintain this type of record….”

In the matter written about in the blog, a request from GREY2K USA, ADOR turned over 550 pages of documents to that group which included everything it had.  That group apparently inferred from something in those 550 pages that ADOR was withholding some additional material.  It did not and would not.

Since just January 1, 2012, GREY2K USA has made 26 Public Record Requests of ADOR and in response, the Department prepared 4,930 pages of material.  One of those requests involved 3,000 pages and only after processing it did G2K decide, because of the cost apparently, that it did not want the entire amount.  This was a costly and time-consuming process on behalf of ADOR for which it was not reimbursed.

Elsewhere in the blog post, the following was written: “Nevertheless for the past few years, when making a public records request for injury reports at Tucson Greyhound Park, has been like asking to see CIA documents.  None are forthcoming.  The same can be said for disposition logs.”  ADOR is incapable of turning over any documents it does not maintain.  And these are two examples of records it does not maintain.  Moreover there is no requirement in the law for it to do so.  To reiterate, if ADOR maintains the records, it will turn over those documents in response to a PRR.

While there are other disputable issues in the blog post, ADOR for now wants to make its position clear on Public Records Requests.  This Department takes pride in how it conducts its business and will not intentionally withhold public records in response to a legitimate public records request.

Bill Walsh
Director
Arizona Department of Racing

—————————

Director Bill Walsh inquired how he could respond to my previous blog post.

However, I have another question for Director Walsh since we are having this dialogue.

FYI: I am not a Board member of GREY2K USA and have no knowledge of their public records requests.  Until 2009, ADOR did produce greyhound injury reports that were publicly requested. Why has that changed?

(Addendum: I was on the Board of GREY2K USA from May 2010-April 2012. As to why I resigned is not germane to this discussion.)

(Addendum: If you are posting comments, please ensure they are relevant to the blog post. )

——————

Addendum: The conversation continued in email:

Bill Walsh
10:17 AM (11 hours ago)
to me, Mark

Ms. Zoldan,

Thank you for publishing my response.  You have followed it up with another question to which I respond below.

“FYI: I am not a Board member of GREY2K USA and have no knowledge of their public records requests. Until 2009, ADOR did produce greyhound injury reports that were publicly requested. Why has that changed?

In 2009 , two Directors back, the economic bottom dropped out across the nation and that affected every governmental agency in this state.  Budgets were severely reduced, staff was cut, furloughs occurred, and salaries were reduced.  Along with these reductions, every area that was not mandated by law was reviewed and most of the time and effort put into those areas were dropped.  The Department’s Annual Report, for which this information was collected, was cut back to include only the information required by law.   Thus the collection and compilation of this information stopped.  However, ADOR maintains the right to review and collect this information.  Thus I asked for some information this spring when there was an apparent problem with the condition of the racing surface.  What was collected was turned over to GREY2K USA as part of a public records request.

Thanks again.

Bill Walsh
Director
Arizona Department of Racing

————–

From: Karyn Zoldan []
Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2012 5:44 PM

Thank you, Mr. Walsh, for your response. Economic crashes notwithstanding, Tucson Greyhound Park hosts pari-mutuel wagering that is authorized by the State of Arizona, and as such, is a quasi-public entity whose records are subject to public information requests.

Thank you for letting me know certain TGP records were recently produced and sent to GREY2K USA.  As I stated, I am no longer a part of GREY2K USA and have no knowledge of the public records requests they make or have made or the public records they have received from ADOR.

Inasmuch as ADOR maintains the right to review and collect information from TGP, and inasmuch as certain TGP information has recently been produced to another requester, I will be submitting a public records request tomorrow.

I believe ADOR’s new policy is to collect payment for the reproduction of records ahead of time, and I actually agree with that policy.  I will be glad to pre-pay for the records I’ll be requesting when I am notified of the amount due.

While you and I are having this dialogue, there is another question or two I will ask, but not until this part of our discussion regarding public records requests is completed.

Karyn Zoldan

Bill Walsh
12:11 PM (9 hours ago)

to me, Mark

Ms. Zoldan,

We will honor any PRR if we have the records.

I really have no intention of getting into a back and forth dialogue.  To the extent that I have the time, I will try to answer any questions you may have, as I do for others.

Earlier I read your reference to “quasi-public entity” in relation to the tracks.  It’s a novel approach though don’t agree with it.  There are a couple of these around the country but their legal status is enshrined in law  — NYRA and the NJSEA come to mind, though the latter may have changed in the past year.

Bill Walsh
Director
Arizona Department of Racing

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