GAVIN NEWSOM has detained its calendars throughout the year

From Alexey KossefCalmness

This story was originally published by CalmattersS Register about their ballots.

This is a common refrain for the critics of governor Gavin News: Focus on your workS

Jabs got stronger this year as Newsom A new weekly political podcast is launched and travels to other countries that could be basic in a Potential presidential campaignS A poll in May found that twice as many voters in California believe the governor was By paying more attention to the strengthening of his national profile than eliminating the problems of the state.

“If he wants to prove to the United States that he will be a good president, why he doesn’t start running and actually managing California?” The Republican Member of the Assembly then Bill Esayli, who has since been appointed lawyer in the United States, said in March of Fox News.

But it is difficult to evaluate what effect the Newsom extracurricular activities had on its work, since the governor’s cabinet did not provide its full schedule throughout the year.

Each month, Calmatters wants Newsom’s calendar under the California Public Records Act. While in the past the governor routinely released these documents in the past, she had not provided anything new for five months and has not yet handed over any of her calendars 2025.

During this period, multiple inquiries were ignored for the timeline to release records, a requirement under the law. Representatives of the Governor’s Legal Affairs Division, who deals with requests for records, wrote that the calendars “will be provided as soon as they are ready for release”.

Newsom spokesman did not answer questions about what causes the delay, but on Wednesday, he said the calendars would be provided when they were “finalized and ready for public opening”.

“The Newsom governor was one of the most transparent governors in the history of California, and we will continue to share his calendar, as always, with the transparency, diligence and accuracy it deserves,” writes spokesman Easy Garden. He added: “I look forward to reading your webbage about the difficulties you have encountered as you wait.”

“This is not difficult – or it should not be difficult.”

David Loy, the Coalition’s Law Director for First Amendment

David Loy, the legal director of the first amendment coalition, which is advocating for the transparency of the government, said it was “deeply problematic”, that the governor’s office did not quickly accomplish what it was a simple clerical task.

“We’re not talking about hundreds and hundreds of records that need to be rounded and edited. It’s a pretty simple request,” Loy said. “This is not difficult – or it should not be difficult.”

Public access

California governors have shared their calendars for about two decades.

Previously, governor George Deukegian went to court to defend these records from disclosure, arguing that the announcement of his appointments would discourage people from meeting him and to prevent the decision -making process. The Supreme Court in California managed in his favor in 1991S

Then the voters of California expanded the Public Records Act in 2004, ultimately forcing the then participant. Arnold Schwarzenegger to Start running his calendarS During the subsequent term of governor Jerry Brown, his cabinet actively provides his diary at reporters who made constant requests for public records.

The schedules are of limited utility as they include only official events, not personal or political activities, and even these are sometimes edited to protect the privilege of a client or the governor’s security. Newsom calendars from previous years include many days with just a few meetings or no official events listed at all, and hours are often filled with “working hours”, not providing more details.

But as most of the governor’s other records, including emails, remain legitimately protected from disclosure, the calendars offer the public the most comprehensive picture available to what Newsom is talking about and how it gives priority to its time. This means that their release can still be politically fulfilled and many administrations have resisted to exceed the minimum requirements.

“It would be so better for transparency if they just posted his calendar online,” Loy said.

Calendars that are not manufactured “immediately”

The Governor’s latest service provided Calmatters’ Newsom calendars on April 1, for the months of September to December 2024.

When a request is made in accordance with the Public Records Act in California, government agencies are obliged to determine within 10 working days whether they have any disclosure documents and, if so, provide an estimated delivery date. The agencies must then produce “immediately” recordings, which is not a specified time frame.

The law also obliges to submit records as they existed during the request.

The calendars that the Newsom office has launched in the past are PDF files that just list its chart in chronological order: date, time, brief description of the meeting, location and staff management.

The records seem to have been copied from a calendar program to a text file, which Loy said he was concerned, as the law requires electronic records to be provided in their native format for proper accountability.

“The whole meaning of the Transparency Act is ‘trust, but check,'” he said. “We don’t have to accept their word that they do it right. We can see it ourselves.”

The Newsom spokesman did not answer questions about how the governor’s calendar was maintained and in what format.

The delay sounds a A similar number including Newsom tax returnsS Although they are not public records, Newsom has promised to be the first governor in California to release his submission each year while in service. But he has not done so for more than three years, he last shared a tax return in March 2022, as he was running for re -election.

This article was Originally Published on CalMatters and was reissued under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Noderivatives License.