Auditor letters that reportedly contain a list of the Salt River Project's Verde River-related lawsuits continue to be a sticking point between the Phoenix-area utility company and local municipalities.
On one hand, SRP contends the letters are subject to attorney-client privilege and are not public records.
But on the other hand, Prescott and Prescott Valley say the confidentiality privilege does not apply to the auditor letters, and they are asking the court to require the release of the documents.
On Friday, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge determined that he must review the contested documents privately before making a ruling.
During a half-hour hearing in Phoenix, Judge Paul McMurdie asked SRP to produce its auditor letters by May 26, after which he would decide the public records matter.
For months, SRP and Prescott and Prescott Valley have traded requests for Verde-related public records. Those requests ultimately led to a public-records lawsuit against SRP by the two communities in March.
At that time, Prescott and Prescott Valley claimed that SRP was withholding certain documents that would be pertinent to the ongoing dispute over Big Chino sub-basin water.
SRP has maintained that it has provided Prescott and Prescott Valley with reams of related information, but that the auditor letters are not public records because they fall under the "attorney-client" privilege.
After the Friday morning hearing, SRP spokesman Jeffrey Lane noted that while "SRP will provide copies to the court as requested," the company maintains that the audit letters - "those between SRP attorneys and outside auditors - are protected from disclosure under the Public Records Law."
Colleen Auer, deputy town attorney for Prescott Valley, disputed that, however, pointing out that auditor letters routinely list any lawsuits that implicate an entity.
"There aren't any opinions being offered up to the auditors (about the lawsuits) by the attorneys," Auer said of the letters.
Public entities regularly compile the lists for their auditors, Auer said, "for purposes of accounting."
Noting that the Town of Prescott Valley compiles similar lists for its auditors, Auer said the town provided those letters to SRP after the utility company made a similar public-records request.
During the Friday hearing, Auer said, attorneys for Prescott and Prescott Valley claimed that the auditor letters are "the consummate public records."
In response to the communities' continued effort to acquire the letters, Lane reiterated SRP's stance on the public records issue:
"As we have stated many times in the past," he said, "SRP hopes that the communities of Prescott and Prescott Valley will expend their time and resources on a plan to protect the flow of the Verde River rather than these tangential and unproductive matters."
The dispute revolves around the plans by Prescott and Prescott Valley to build a 30-mile pipeline from the Paulden-area Big Chino sub-basin to import thousands of acre-feet of water per year.
In its motion to dismiss the local governments' public records complaint, SRP stated, "Because Prescott's proposed wells are near the headwaters of the Verde River and a substantial portion of the water supply that SRP diverts and delivers to residents of the Phoenix area comes from the Verde River, SRP has a substantial interest..."
Reader Comments
Posted: Monday, April 27, 2009
Article comment by:
PAUL F MILLER
Hey, welcome to the game and this is just the beginning. SRP has no intention of making the very daunting task of “tangling” with it, pleasant, easy, convenient, expedient or inexpensive. SRP is “toying” with the plaintiffs in the Verde River disputes, jostling them, tugging them, poking them, taunting them, it’s all part of the game to test their resolve. To determine if provoked they might tip their hand and do or say something which SRP can use to force conciliation. The deck is stacked, the court is in Phoenix, SRP is valley based and based on what I see at the hearing I attend, SRP has the best thing going, they have all of you in the Verde River water shed fighting each other. It’s the old game … divide and conquer … and SRP is so far playing it perfectly.
If or when “we” – that’s you and me – honestly understand that – water – is part of the commons and exactly what the entails and begin to take community action only then might the pendulum shift.
Respectfully,
Paul F. Miller
striving to promote sustainable awareness
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