Palin Contract Sought by California Nonprofit

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Californians Aware, a nonprofit open government advocate, filed suit against California State University Stanislaus to obtain information regarding the confidential contract terms pertaining to Governor Sarah Palin’s upcoming speech at the University’s campus in June.  The nonprofit argues that under California’s Public Records Act it has a right to know the details of the contract with Palin.  However, like many other public universities, California State has an associated tax-exempt foundation, the CSU Stanislaus Foundation, which contends that its activities are exempt from the Act.  Californians Aware disagrees, stating the Foundation and the University are virtualy “intertwined” and that several University officers reviewed the Palin contract.  In a 2001 case, the California state appeals court determined that university foundations are not subject to the Act’s disclosure requirements unless the foundation’s documents are also in the associated university’s possession.

NAM