How I got the names
As I explain in my Commerce File this week we decided that since some 13 busineses got caught for a second or even third time selling tobacco products to teens under 18 we should publish the names in the Commerce File. So I called the folks at the tobacco control department of the county for the names - only of the stores that were facing suspensions, not the first-timers. I got a prompt refusal and then waited while the department checked with the Mendocino County counsel's office. Here's the email they got back and passed to me from Terry Gross:
"You are correct in refusing to disclose information until claims are finally
resolved or settled. There is an exemption under the Public Records Act for
disclosure of unresolved claims, also for investigatory files or information
related to code enforcement and finally the evidence Code provisions protect
official information where disclosure is against public interest--here you
state not wanting minors to attempt to purchase cigareetes. Thats 3 grounds
for not disclosing the identity of shop keepers until the matters are
resolved by the grievance hearings. Hopefully that will do! Good luck!"
Terry N. Gross, Deputy County Counsel
Mendocino County Counsel Office, Administration Center
501 Low Gap Road, Room 1030, Ukiah, CA 95482
Good luck indeed. Their position was that as long as any of the stores was appealing the suspensiosn, the names should be kept secret. I immediately contacted our attorneys in San Francsico who wrote a letter to Terry Gross explaining why their reasoning was all wrong. It's a long letter and anyone who really wants to see it, say so and I'll post it here. Suffice it to say we had the names in a day or so. I was on vacation at the time so didn't publish until now. Beyond the Public Records errors the county made, I disagree with the public health department's notion that naming the stores only encourages kids to go there to buy cigarettes. I made the point with the public health folks that the argument could certainly be made that naming the stores would actually help enforcement since members of the public might be more watchful of clerks in those stores as they stand in line. I know I will.