An attorney for SEDC, who last month stated at a public meeting that she had greater integrity than any other attorney in the country, has ignored repeated requests to provide her legal bills for public scrutiny.
SEDC’s corporate counsel Regina Petty told an SEDC committee last month that “there is no attorney in this country whose integrity and competence is better than mine.” But Petty has consistently failed to provide records of her billing for legal services in response to a California Public Records Act request.
Because Petty works billable hours for a public agency, her bills are public records that must be made available under state law.
On Aug. 22, I sent Petty a records request seeking copies of her invoices to SEDC. She responded that I should send my request directly to SEDC. So, on Sept. 4, I sent SEDC a request for Petty’s legal bills.
By law, the agency must respond to such requests within 10 calendar days. By the end of September, I still hadn’t received any documents. I called Petty’s office and spoke with a secretary who said that Petty had gone on vacation and had not had a chance to review the documents before she left. The secretary assured me that Petty would be back from vacation by Oct. 2 and the documents would be made available.
I still haven’t received anything. I have called Petty’s office every day this week. I have been told, on each occasion, that Petty is not in the office. I have left numerous messages with Petty and her secretary but have not received a call back. The public documents I requested more than a month ago still haven’t been provided.