Which investment firms are investing billions of dollars of state tax money? And how much money do they invest?
Those may seem simple questions, but D'Arcy Dixon Pignanelli, Democratic candidate for state treasurer, has requested that information three times, and three times her request has been denied by a treasurer's office official as "burdensome.""A citizen has the right to know who is benefiting from the investment of his or her tax dollars," Pignanelli said. "Why won't Ed Alter disclose this basic information? What is he hiding?"
On Wednesday, Pignanelli - who is running against Alter - formally appealed the decisions by the treasurer's office not to disclose the names of investment firms who sell securities to the state and the dollar amount of state business each firm receives from the state treasurer.
Pignanelli maintains citizens have the right to know if the state treasurer is adequately distributing state business among local investment firms or if he is carelessly concentrating the investment activities in one or two firms.
Under state law regarding access to public records, Pignanelli's appeal of the denial now goes to the bureaucrat's supervisor. In this case, Alter himself will rule on the appeal.
"Ed Alter's stonewalling is disgraceful," she said. "His actions demonstrate contempt for the taxpayers whose hard-earned dollars he collects. Such arrogance in elected officials usually infects the entire office."
The last time an incumbent treasurer refused to disclose investment information was in Orange County, which subsequently went bankrupt, Pignanelli said.
An official in the treasurer's office said Alter had not yet seen Pignanelli's appeal and that he was attending to treasurer duties and was not available for comment.
If elected, Pignanelli said she would work to amend the state Government Records Access and Management Act so that elected and appointed officials cannot hide behind technicalities in the law that is supposed to give citizens access to government records. She has also promised to campaign to eliminate the office of elected state treasurer, making the position appointed by the governor.
In the formal letter of appeal, Pignanelli chastises Alter, saying "You must have some record of these purchases. Let's stop playing games over technicalities. Who the state does business with, at what amount and on what grounds is important to the citizens of Utah. It is time for honesty. The citizens deserve to know there is no correlation of the state's business with campaign contributions."
To emphasize her point, Pignanelli requested of the state Department of Transportation and the state Division of Facilities, Construction and Management, a list of contractors who performed work for the state and the amount they received. Her request was honored within hours.
"The state treasurer's office claims they have no idea how much in securities was purchased from investment firms or how the investment business is distributed," she said. "This whole attempt to obtain information through GRAMA is a tragic joke."