Reprinted from the Journal Inquirer

Delicously appropriate Joe Ax, JI writer, recently penned the following:

Former mayor Susan Kniep has filed a complaint with the Freedom of Information Commission, claiming that Finance Director Michael Walsh improperly refused to allow her to examine a copy of the mayor's recommended 2003-04 budget last week

Walsh, however, says he did nothing wrong and insisted the budget was not available in its final form until Monday

And Mayor Timothy D. Larson offerred a harsh response to Kniep's complaint calling her a "nuisance" and a "administrative terrorist" who "wastes my people's time."

Kniep said she asked to see the budget on April 2 but was told by Walsh that the budget had been sent to a local printing company and would not be ready for several days.

She also called Custom Printing and requested a copy of the budget. Jim Hallinan, the manager, refused, saying the company cannot release confidential information without the client's permission.

He also said that when Kniep called the initial implication was that she was a member of the Finance Department, a suggestion Kniep dismissed immediately.

"I clarified who I was," she said.

Walsh said last week that the copy of the budget at Custom Printing was the only finished copy of the budget. Because the budget is literally cut-and-pasted together from various reports and documents, no budget truly exists in its final form, Walsh said. Clifton Leonhardt, a lawyer with the commission, said the Freedom of Information Act provides that document must be available to the public once it is "no longer subject to revision." "Therefore he said, it is likely that copy of the budget either in print or electronic form should have been readily available as soon as it was delivered to the printer company.

Walsh pointed out that the numbers contained within the proposed $130.6 million budget were made public Thursday in summarized form. He added there would be no reason to deliberately delay the release of the budget for a few extra days.

But Kniep insisted it was her inquiry that prompted the release of the numbers and called Walsh and Larson "spin doctors."

Kniep has asked that the commission issue a ruling on the matter. Larson, for one, believes the complaint is spurious.

"Mrs. Kniep is extremely frustrating to deal with," he said. "If taxpayers knew how much time she wastes with her conspiracy after conspiracy after conspiracy they would be astonished. She's an embarrassment."

Kniep answered with some severe words of her own. 'I am a thorn in their sides," she said "Mayor Larson operates under a cloak of secrecy...He is not a leader."

The Town Council wil begin to examine the budget formally on April 19 and will approve a final spending plan in May.