October 22, 2002

Dear Mr. Ristow,

I have reviewed the October 16, 2002 response from the Jefferson County Economic Development Corporation (JCEDC) with their itemized response to my April 19, 2001 open records request. Here are my impressions.

Under the section "Organizational Development Activities", Item 1 This is a new explanation of why they won't supply this database in electronic format. I'm disappointed that it took eighteen months for it to surface.

My original request stated that I'd like "all segregable portions of otherwise exempt material." If confidential information is present in any record, then a redacted version will suffice. I'm not asking them to create a new record. They are required to supply redacted records if they claim some confidential information is present. They did not state the nature of the confidential information, so we do not know which exemption of the Open Records law would allow the redaction, if any.

Under "Business Retention Activities," they did not respond to my Item 5 "Any records showing that businesses that were directed to the described resources" or Item 6 "Item 6 Any records communicating with the described officials regarding economic development issues" nor Item 7 "Any statistics assembled for companies seeking expansion." Why did they ignore these items?

For Item 9 and 10, "Any records regarding the Tourism Council, including minutes of meetings", Supervisor Duesterhoeft was able to supply numerous records related to this contract item. She even suggested that many other records existed such as advertiser contracts. I do not understand how the JCEDC can claim that no records were produced.

Similarly, it would seem reasonable to assume that additional records for Item 11 would exist, given the paperwork necessary for the grant. Again, the JCEDC claims no records exist.

Under "Business Attraction Activities and Small Business Assistance," for Item 3 for example, I think it would be reasonable to see records of the cost of advertising and production of these items, yet again the JCEDC claims no records exist.

In general, they did not give an item-by-item response to the requests in my April 19 request. Instead, they quoted the language of the contract. This can lead to very different interpretations. My Item 4 reads "Item 4 Any records relating to trade show trips, including receipts for related expenses" whereas they state "Item 4 Attend trade shows with Forward WI informing companies of the advantage of doing business in Wisconsin and Jefferson County." Their response directs you to the Annual Report, and also claims no records exist. Surely some record of these trade show trips must exist. Also, I did not request Item 7, but they respond to it.

Under "Workforce Development Activities," again they used the contract language, not the words from my request. Again, they claim no records exist.

Under "Community Development Activities," I did not request Item 1 and Item 2. I did request 3, 4, 5 and 6, but again, they claim no records exist to justify these contracted items.

Sincerely,