December 28, 2001

Mr. John Foust
N3942 CTH G
Fort Atkinson, WI 53538

RE: IN01-0466

Dear Mr. Foust:

I received your e-mails relative to my decision in this case. I am not going to give you a line by line refutation of your e-mail. First, you are correct. I did not examine the records. The reason I did not examine the records is the records themselves are not important, in my opinion, in making the decision in this case. Many of the records you are requesting, in my opinion, were outside the contract that was entered into between the Jefferson County Economic Development Corporation and
Jefferson County. Therefore, it is irrelevant for me to review the records. The reason Jefferson County was not able to supply some of the records that you had requested is that the Jefferson County Economic Development Corporation had not supplied them in that they claimed these records were created outside the contract. I agree with that position.

Again, I am not going to engage in a line by line discussion of your e-mail on this issue. I believe I have accurately reviewed the applicable law in the contractor records exception and applied it to the facts in this case. You certainly have the right to disagree with me and take whatever action you deem appropriate. I also have read your e-mail relative to my decision dealing with the Commerce and Industry Association. I understand your position relative to my analogy that this was a sub-contractor situation. In addition, you also indicated you requested the financial records of the Chamber of Commerce. I do not recall that specific request being made, but certainly had it been made I would have denied it anyways. The Chamber of Commerce financial records clearly fall outside the purview of the Wisconsin Open Records Law and the contractor records exception. The reasoning would be the same reason that I applied to the telephone records.

Again, I certainly respect your right to disagree with my decision. I believe I applied the applicable law to the facts in the CIA matter just as I have with the Jefferson County Economic Development Corporation. I am not sure what else I can do for you. I am not sure how much detail I can give you. You ask a final question in your e-mail as to which records become public in a situation such as that existed with the City of Jefferson and Commerce and Industry Association. I can't tell you that. I can tell you that any records that were created, pursuant to the contract entered into between the City of 
Jefferson and the Commerce and Industry Association would be public. That is the best I can do for you at this point.

I recently received a call from several media outlets in Jefferson County. Apparently, you have made this matter a public issue. I have not. I will, however, respond to your allegations as you make them in order to defend the integrity of this office, as well as the integrity of the decision that has been made in this matter. You have the right to disagree with my decision. You do not have the right to make accusations or allegations that are not supported by the facts or the law.

Thank you for your consideration and your patience regarding this matter.

Very truly yours,

PAUL E. BUCHER
District Attorney
State Bar #1014958
jad

CC:David Wambach, District Attorney
Jefferson County

Phil Ristow, Corporation Counsel
Jefferson County

Attorney Robert Gordon
Weiss, Berzowski, Brady, LLP