On Friday, June 3, the Madison Courier published an article titled "City revokes loan for new restaurant". The article was reporting on the City of Madison Revolving Loan Fund Review Committee (RLFRC) meeting that was held on Thursday, June 2 at City Hall. Courier Staff Writer, Peggy Vlerebome, is listed as the author of the article, however Ms. Vlerebome did not attend the meeting and there was no one else there from the Courier. Corey Murphy, who administers the revolving loan fund for Economic Development Partners (EDP or MIDCOR), told me he provided the information in the article to Ms. Vlerebome. This may explain Ms. Vlerebome's failure to report on the discussions that took place at meeting regarding public access, and the committee's refusal to allow input from the public. I had contacted committee member Tony Waltz to discuss my concerns about how the RLFRC was conducting business. Mr. Waltz declined to discuss these concerns. He instructed that I should attend a meeting of the RLFRC and speak with the entire committee. I decided to follow Mr. Waltz's instructions. The committee Chairperson, Pam Crozier, was not available, so I called the Vice Chairman of the committee, Randy Greves, and informed him that I would be at the meeting. I waited for the regular business portion of the meeting to conclude, however when I asked to speak, committee member Al Huntington quickly moved for the meeting to be adjourned. I asked if the committee had a policy on not allowing input from the public and was told no, however Mr. Waltz said I should deliver my concerns in writing and Mr. Greves stated I was not being allowed to speak because I was not on the agenda. Evidently Mr. Murphy left this portion of the meeting out when he talked with Ms. Vlerebome, or she decided not to include it in her article. Perhaps, in the future Ms. Vlerebome will actually attend the public meetings she is reporting on It is very ironic that Ms. Vlerebome's article quotes Mr. Murphy saying; this month's meeting of the RLFRC reflects a change in procedures to make the committee and its work more open. She also quotes Mr. Murphy saying "he moved toward openness after attending a seminar on the Open Door and Open Records laws last month". Mr. Murphy's statement is very misleading. It is true that he attended the seminar. However the main reason the RLFRC is moving towards more openness is because I have continued to point out to Mr. Murphy that the procedures he has been using violate Indiana's Open Door Law and Access to Public Records Act. When I confronted Mr. Murphy about his misleading statement, he just grinned. It was obvious that he was very proud of his deceptive statement. On Wednesday, April 14, 2010 there was an article in the Courier announcing the EDP loan program. Mr. Murphy stated in the article that the RLFRC meetings would be closed to the public and that the names of the loan applicants would be kept secret until the loans were approved. I sent an email to Mr. Murphy, and Mayor Armstrong, two days later addressing my concerns about the program. I will post that email separately. There have been some changes to the procedures but Mr. Murphy and the RLFRC continue to work hard at finding ways around the Open Door Law and Access to Public Records Act instead of simply complying with them. Warren A. Auxier e-mail If you would like to comment: go here This is the letter I sent Mayor Armstrong and Mr. Murphy in April of 2010 Sent April 16, 2010 Dear Mr. Mayor Armstrong, CC:Corey Murphy I am very pleased that the City is reviving the revolving loan program. However after reading the article in the Madison Courier I have some concerns. I called Corey yesterday and asked him who had determined how the new program was going to be set up and who was administering it, he informed me that he had set the program up and that a City Ordinance that the previous administration had passed in 2000 gave MIDCOR, now EDP, the authority to administer the loan program. Corey gave no indication that he had looked beyond the 2000 ordinance when determining how to set up the new loan program. This raises several concerns. First I think that it is very important not to make the assumption that the ordinance passed in 2000 complies with state statutes and/or the grant agreement covering the funds that the City received for this loan program. Corey's program and EDP's administration of the program may well be in compliance with both, however it was clear that Corey had not reviewed these issues. The Courier stated that the decisions regarding these loans would be made in private and that information would only be released to the public after the loan was approved. While I understand the need for confidentiality when considering these loans, I still think that the it is very important that the loan review and approval process comply with Indiana's Open Door and Access to Public Records Law. When these laws are ignored, the public looses faith in their government and it's leaders. There are provisions in these laws that should preserve the needed confidentiality. I have never understood why the past administration and MIDCOR worked so hard to find ways around these laws instead of complying with them. This gave the public the perception that they had something to hide. All public agencies in Indiana are subject to the Open Door and Access to Public Records laws. The statutes make it clear that when EDP exercises the power delegated to them by the City Council to administer this loan program of public funds it is acting as a public agency. The statutes are also clear that the loan committee that has been formed to review, approve or disapprove these loans is also a public agency. I do not think that it is unreasonable to expect both EDP and the loan committee to comply with the applicable laws. If you would like to review Indiana's definitions of a public agency, you can find them at IC 5-14-1.5-2. I know that Corey had the best of intentions when he set up this new loan program. However I think these problems could have been avoided, had he used all of the resources available to him, instead of assuming that he knew what he was doing. I appreciate his initiative and dedication for economic development, but find that at times he is a little over confident of his own abilities. The resources are there, he just needs to use them. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. I will be glad to help. Sincerely Warren A. Auxier