Iowa Lottery's Response to the Des Moines Register

Below is an Op Ed that was submitted to the Des Moines Register by Iowa Lottery Board Chair Tim Clausen. This column was in response to a Des Moines Register editorial published on Jan. 21. In its editorial, the Register stated the Iowa Lottery “initially refused to release details of where TouchPlay machines were placed and how much revenue they were collecting.”

This statement is false.

It was written by the Register weeks after a district court judge ruled, “The Des Moines Register's complaints in this regard are without merit” and that “all of the information requested by the Des Moines Register was promptly and timely supplied by the Iowa Lottery.”

After one week, the Des Moines Register has yet to acknowledge whether it will publish Tim Clausen's response to its editorial.

We believe the Des Moines Register has had ample opportunity to respond. Therefore, we are releasing the column to other media outlets around the state of Iowa.

Register Should Apologize to Lottery
Jan. 24, 2007

By Timothy A. Clausen, Chairperson of the Iowa Lottery Board

The Des Moines Register owes the Iowa Lottery an apology and a retraction. In its editorial on January 21, the Register wrote “…the Iowa Lottery Commission initially refused to release details of where TouchPlay machines were placed and how much revenue they were collecting.” That is not true and the Register knows it. Under the cloak of public accountability the Register has chosen a path that is both self-righteous and self-serving. It makes money by reporting controversy and sometimes by creating it.

Last February after receiving myriads of TouchPlay-related data the Register made the largest public information request in the Lottery's 21 year history - and it received more than 132,000 records. The records did not exist in a report and the Iowa Lottery had to write programs to extract the data. At great time and expense, the Lottery began working on what it thought might be the request while at the same time trying to clarify it. The reporter talking to the Lottery waited until the last minute to respond and clarified the request after 7 PM on a Friday night ensuring that no work could be done on the request until the following Monday.

The Lottery was advised by the Attorney General in the interests of transparent government to notify parties affected by the Register's request that the Lottery intended to release the information that those parties alleged were trade secrets. Those parties are citizens and businesses of the State of Iowa with rights under the trade secrets law. Some of those parties sued to protect themselves. The Lottery released all the information that was not subject to litigation. The Lottery then took the side of the Des Moines Register in the litigation and argued in court that all of the records should be released. The last records were released when the court said that it was OK to do so. The Register then sued the Lottery for legal fees, claiming a violation of the public records law.

In the lawsuit against the Lottery, the Register acted like it wanted its public records request to be kept secret, like all Iowa citizens' rights were subordinate to its own, and like the Lottery should have taken a chance on breaking trade secrets statutes simply because the Register demanded it.

The Lottery won the lawsuit but only part of the story was reported by the Register and it was hidden in the middle of another controversial story about an unrelated open meeting lawsuit by another newspaper that did not involve the Lottery. The Register did report that the court ruled that the Lottery should have been more transparent by notifying the Register earlier about sending the notices to affected parties. However, the Register left most of the 26 page ruling out of the story. In a non-transparent fashion it left out that the court ruled that the Lottery did not act improperly, that the Lottery violated no laws, that the notice was a reasonable precaution to protect everyone's rights, and that similar notice had even been ordered by a court in a past similar circumstance. In fact, the court ruled “the Des Moines Register's complaints in this regard are without merit” and that “all of the information requested by the Des Moines Register was promptly and timely supplied by the Iowa Lottery.” Go to RegisterSuit.pdf to read the judicial ruling in its entirety.

By not reporting the story completely and only reporting the self-serving aspect of the ruling the Register did a disservice to the public. The fact of the matter is the Register sued the Lottery and lost. In other words, it was judicially determined that the Iowa Lottery did not violate the open records laws and the court ordered the Register to pay its own legal fees and court costs. Having lost in an impartial court of law, the Register has chosen to poison the truth with its biased reporting and scandalous editorial statements. There is no lottery “Commission”. There is a “Board”. That Board never held secret meetings in violation of any open meetings laws and never discussed withholding information from the Register. The Lottery always intended to release the information with due process and never initially refused to do so. In fact, prior to losing the court case against the Lottery, Register readers are probably interested in knowing that the Register offered to publish a story wherein Register Editor Carolyn Washburn would be willing to say in a press release or be quoted on record as saying that “the Iowa Lottery has an exemplary record of compliance with public records requests.” The only thing the Lottery had to do for such good press was to pay the Register's alleged $60,000 in attorney fees. Of course, the Lottery Board politely declined to be coerced into buying good press and it was judicially confirmed that our exemplary record remains unblemished -- something Register readers could not ascertain from the various stories and editorials on this subject.

Newspapers are necessary to hold the government accountable to the people. However, they can also be huge conglomerate businesses with a bottom-line interest in profit. Perhaps in a scheme to sell newspapers some writers and managers may be dwelling on career advancement and profit rather than on being the custodians of truth. Furthermore, the Register in particular has been inconsistent in its approach. After writing two editorials against the ban on Touchplay, Register Publisher Mary Stier appeared on National Public Radio trying to defend the Register from charges of deteriorating quality while at the same time gloating that it was the Register's work that was responsible for the legislative ban on TouchPlay. Thus, as the Register publicly promotes a call for more open government perhaps self-reflection is in order at the Des Moines Register for more responsible and truthful reporting and editorializing. As for the Iowa Lottery, we are all in favor of open meetings and open records and will continue to strive to maintain “our exemplary record of compliance with public records requests.” which is exactly what the Register Editor was prepared to say about us prior to losing its court battle.

(Timothy Clausen is a practicing trial lawyer in Sioux City, Iowa. He is the statutorily required lawyer on the Iowa Lottery Board and is currently chairperson of that Board.)