Letters: Public records and democracy

Re “The good fight,” Opinion, Oct. 15

I read with sadness Jim Newton’s column on newspaper publisher Tim Crews’ fight to gain access to public records. The term, public records, says it all: This is information that should be accessible to the public. The people grant powers to the government, not the other way around.

We the people better pay attention when a decision like making Crews pay $56,000 for his public records request limits access crucial to maintaining an informed democracy, or we will soon find that our democracy is no longer informed or a democracy.

Denise Frey

Santa Barbara

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