This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Last week, Ogden's Records Review Board ruled that a list of potential Field House donors should be released as a public record to Dan Schroeder, a government watchdog who questions whether the proposed $40-million recreation facility could operate in the black.
Ogden's Chief Deputy Attorney Mara Brown this week filed a request for the board to reconsider, asking members to take a second look at the city's arguments.
Brown argued that the board failed to consider each basis the city cited to keep the record private. She questioned Schroeder's use of state code to define procurement, and also debated whether the requested list even qualified as a government record — "… the subject document was prepared by the Mayor for the personal use of the Mayor," Brown wrote in her motion.
Brown also said that the document's release would interfere with governmental procurement proceedings — a $10-million fundraising effort aimed at offsetting the use of tax dollars to launch the downtown facility that would span five acres.
"The interests of the city in withholding this document outweigh the public's interest in disclosure," Brown wrote.
In a letter to the board, Schroeder urged members to reject the city's motion, arguing that allowing a motion to consider is not included in the state Government Records Access and Management Act and also has no footing in the city's rules and procedures.
Schroeder also argued that the city offered no new facts but simply expanded its legal argument. Typically, an appeal of the board's decision would be filed in Ogden's 2nd District Court within 30 days of the written ruling.