The Denver Gazette: Access to government records — in the state bureaucracy; in local school districts; at City Hall — is Coloradans’ first, and last, recourse for holding their public agencies accountable.

Maybe it involves expense vouchers from school board members who’ve traveled to a “conference” — in Vegas. Or, details of a pricey settlement with a city manager who leaves amid harassment allegations. It could be an email thread among state officials who awarded a big contract to a friend of the governor. All would be records subject to public scrutiny.

So, don’t expect us to shed any tears for public officials who complain of being put upon by requests to release such records. Especially considering how often the same officials stonewall the press and public — sometimes with flimsy claims that records are exempt and other times charging inflated, exorbitant fees for the labor that’s supposedly required to retrieve them.

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