Copyright 2004, San Francisco Chronicle

Chronicle editorial backs request for Governors records of meetings and appointments. "Let the sun shine in."

(San Francisco Chronicle 11/9/04) -- WHEN ARNOLD Schwarzenegger ran for governor last fall, he promised to open state government to public scrutiny.

Once in office, he backed Proposition 59, which amends the state Constitution to guarantee increased public access to the inner workings of government at all levels. Last week, voters approved the proposition by an overwhelming 83 percent margin. (Among those sponsoring the proposition was the California Newspaper Publishers Association.)

Within 24 hours of the vote, Schwarzenegger declared that the proposition was "a terrific idea" and praised voters for being "so smart." "Let the sun shine in," he said.

But the governor's words have yet to match his actions as they relate to his own official business. Schwarzenegger has yet to make public his own appointment calendar. Other than occasional public events, the public or the press has no idea with whom he meets in mysterious "private meetings."

The daily announcements of Schwarzenegger's schedule are notable for their lack of transparency. Last Friday, for example, his official schedule consisted of the following: "The governor will have no planned public events on Friday, November 5." Instead, he was going to hold unspecified "private meetings" in Los Angeles.

Last week the California First Amendment Coalition, a nonprofit advocacy organization and a key sponsor of Prop. 59, filed a formal request for release of the governor's official appointment calendars and appointment logs. According to a statement from the organization, the records are "valuable to the public because they indicate which special interests have the ear of the governor, the extent of their access and the issues they care about."

For more than a decade, state agencies have rejected requests for information that the public has a right to receive. To justify their actions, they've relied on a dubious 1991 California Supreme Court ruling exempting the release of documents that deal with the "deliberative process" in state government.

Rather than get into a court fight, Gov. Schwarzenegger should indicate that he will comply with the First Amendment Coalition's request. By so doing, he would send a message to every custodian of state records -- from the governor's office to local water districts -- that they can no longer rely on a flawed legal ruling to keep their activities hidden from public view.