HomeMy WebLinkAbout19980722Kehoe Letter.doc
July 22, 1998
Clarence W. Kehoe
301 5th Street
Wilder, Idaho 83676
Dear Mr. Kehoe:
Enclosed is a copy of the Notice of Modified Procedure and Notice of Hearing served by the Commission on June 19, 1998, and a copy of the notice and agenda posted on the bulletin board at the Idaho Public Utilities Commission on June 19, 1998. Idaho Code 67-2343. Idaho Code only requires public hearings be posted no less than five (5) calendar days before the meeting at a prominent place in the Commissions offices. In this case, this notice was posted on the Commission bulletin board. The list of parties actually served with the notice is also enclosed. In short, the Commission complied with the statutory requirements for noticing the Wilder public hearing.
The federal law cited by you does not apply to state public meetings nor does the Federal Freedom of Information Act apply to your request. Those statutes only apply to federal activities. Many people confuse the two requirements. Only Idaho Code 9-337 through -350 and Idaho Code 67-2340 through -2347 control requests for public records and the state requirements for public meetings.
Although the Commission is not required to publish notice of its hearings in the newspaper, it sent copies of this notice to various newspapers. Some chose not to publish any information. I have enclosed a copy of three news articles that appeared in both the Owyhee Avalanche, Homedale, Idaho, and in the Central Idaho Star-News, McCall, Idaho. The Owyhee Avalanche printed a story discussing the hearings scheduled for Wilder and McCall on June 24, 1998. The Central Idaho Star-News published two articles concerning the two hearings on June 26, 1998, and on July 2, 1998.
As to being refused the names of the Commission members, I do not understand why someone would not provide that information to you. The three Commissioners are President Dennis Hansen, Commissioner Ralph Nelson, and Commissioner Marsha Smith. Both Commissioner Hansen and Commissioner Nelson introduced themselves at the beginning of the public hearing.
Thank you for your interest in this matter. If you have any further questions, please write me at the above address and I will be happy to answer them.
Sincerely,
Cheri Copsey
Deputy Attorney General
CC/vld
Enclosure
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Clarence W. Kehoe
Page 2
July 22, 1998