You can't have it both ways, Pinnacol

The Denver Post
August 21, 2010
http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_15843873

Pinnacol Assurance has wanted to play it both ways in recent years. When it comes to tax breaks, the state-chartered workers compensation fund wants to be considered a public agency. But when it comes to releasing certain documents, it wants to be a private entity.

However, last week a judge clearly said, and rightly so, that expense reports for Pinnacol executives are public records. The ruling was a win for KMGH-Channel 7, which had requested expense records for Pinnacol board members and executives who traveled to Pebble Beach, Calif., for a golf and wine-tasting outing.

Pinnacol is considered a quasi-governmental agency that operates similarly to a private business but enjoys certain tax advantages and its board is appointed by the governor. The judge said the expense reports were "clearly" public records. The law governing Pinnacol states it's a political subdivision and it cites specific records Pinnacol does not have to make public, the judge ruled. These records didn't fall under those exceptions, according to a story by The Post's Tim Hoover.

The public and the businesses that pay into Pinnacol have a legitimate interest in knowing how Pinnacol spends its money.

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