The following statement can be attributed to Dawn Theodora, University Counsel, California State University
(May 6, 2010) – "There has been a great deal of misinformation and confusion surrounding the appearance of Sarah Palin at the CSU Stanislaus 50th Anniversary Gala, and we would like to explain the true facts. The California State University system regularly complies with requests made through the Public Records Act (PRA). The act clearly stipulates response timelines that we strictly follow and adhere to.
"Two separate and different requests for information regarding the 50th Anniversary Gala at CSU Stanislaus have been made by CalAware, and we are in the process of gathering documents to respond to the second request.
"The first request made on March 31 was for all non-public university records concerning the planned appearance of former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin at the Gala. The campus understood the request to be for non-public records and for records solely used, owned and maintained by the Foundation. We provided a timely response to this request on April 6 stating the University had no records pertaining to the request and that the Foundation was handling Palin's appearance.
"CalAware sent a second and different PRA request three days later. The request was for the contract with the Washington Speakers Bureau for Palin's appearance, and all public records in possession of all University employees in any way related to the Palin appearance, regardless of whether those employees were officers or employees of the Foundation. The University responded to the request on April 16 indicating we were conducting a search for related documents.
"As of today, we have retrieved 899 pages responsive to this request, and are still searching for related documents. Most of these documents are electronic communications dealing with media inquiries and facility issues. We are continuing our extensive search for all records related to the planned appearance of Sarah Palin, and as a result, may be notifying CalAware that there are additional records.
"It is highly unusual and irregular for a requester to sue a state agency while the agency is still within the 10 day response time allowed by the PRA. We have been very responsive to these requests and will continue to act promptly in our search to respond."
For an attachment letter to Ms. Kelly Aviles regarding Californians Aware v. CSU; CSU Stanislaus Foundation, Stanislaus County Superior Court Case No. 652873, please contact Eve Hightower at CSU Stanislaus, ehightower@csustan.edu, or Claudia Keith at the CSU Chancellor's Office, ckeith@calstate.edu.
(May 6, 2010) – "There has been a great deal of misinformation and confusion surrounding the appearance of Sarah Palin at the CSU Stanislaus 50th Anniversary Gala, and we would like to explain the true facts. The California State University system regularly complies with requests made through the Public Records Act (PRA). The act clearly stipulates response timelines that we strictly follow and adhere to.
"Two separate and different requests for information regarding the 50th Anniversary Gala at CSU Stanislaus have been made by CalAware, and we are in the process of gathering documents to respond to the second request.
"The first request made on March 31 was for all non-public university records concerning the planned appearance of former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin at the Gala. The campus understood the request to be for non-public records and for records solely used, owned and maintained by the Foundation. We provided a timely response to this request on April 6 stating the University had no records pertaining to the request and that the Foundation was handling Palin's appearance.
"CalAware sent a second and different PRA request three days later. The request was for the contract with the Washington Speakers Bureau for Palin's appearance, and all public records in possession of all University employees in any way related to the Palin appearance, regardless of whether those employees were officers or employees of the Foundation. The University responded to the request on April 16 indicating we were conducting a search for related documents.
"As of today, we have retrieved 899 pages responsive to this request, and are still searching for related documents. Most of these documents are electronic communications dealing with media inquiries and facility issues. We are continuing our extensive search for all records related to the planned appearance of Sarah Palin, and as a result, may be notifying CalAware that there are additional records.
"It is highly unusual and irregular for a requester to sue a state agency while the agency is still within the 10 day response time allowed by the PRA. We have been very responsive to these requests and will continue to act promptly in our search to respond."
For an attachment letter to Ms. Kelly Aviles regarding Californians Aware v. CSU; CSU Stanislaus Foundation, Stanislaus County Superior Court Case No. 652873, please contact Eve Hightower at CSU Stanislaus, ehightower@csustan.edu, or Claudia Keith at the CSU Chancellor's Office, ckeith@calstate.edu.