Denver Biz Journal files public records lawsuit against airport

The Denver Business Journal has filed a public-records lawsuit against Denver International Airport to reveal independent panel members that recommended DIA CEO Kim Day should hire Great Hall Partners for a $1.8 billion renovation project.

Reporter Monica Vendituoli reports, “The lawsuit stems from a Jan. 16 request by the DBJ under the Colorado Open Records Act seeking the names of the independent panel members who recommended Great Hall Partners to Day. Several days later, Day responded via Rachel Marion, DIA’s director of government affairs. Marion withheld the names of the panel members, citing two state statutes.

“One state statute prevents the release of ‘the contents of real estate appraisals made for the state or a political subdivision thereof relative to the acquisition of property’ and the other prevents the release of materials ‘so candid or personal that public disclosure is likely to stifle honest and frank discussion within the government, unless the privilege has been waived.’

“On Feb. 7, Day provided a sworn statement through Marion further explaining why DIA withheld the records.

“‘Public disclosure would be likely in the future to stifle frank and open exchange of ideas and opinions regarding the final decisions that ultimately resulted from these panelists,’ the sworn statement said.”

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Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.