Must read.

We will have comments on this later, but it is a must read.

This is in regards to the Myaor breaking the law by, giving the report to the DNT. It is from a State employee.

Regardless of his intent, mayor broke law
BY JIM NOBLES

I am responding to your May 14 editorial, "Probe into Bergson leak is waste of city money,"about the controversy concerning Mayor Bergson providing a classified draft audit report to the News Tribune. You trivialized the central concern by characterizing Bergson's offense as a "who-cares misdemeanor." I think your readers deserve a more thoughtful consideration of the issues involved.

In 2005, the Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor investigated how state grants were being used by the Minnesota Council on Compulsive Gambling. In the interest of efficiency, we agreed to review grants to the council from the city of Duluth (a task that would normally fall to the State Auditor's Office, which audits local governments).
Following standard audit practice and state law, we allowed the affected organizations -- the council and the city of Duluth -- to review and comment on the draft report before it was finalized and made public. Minnesota law clearly says that a person who receives a draft audit report from the Legislative Auditor is obligated to protect it from "unlawful disclosure" or be subject to penalties in the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act.
The draft report sent to Mayor Bergson on May 20, 2005, prominently displayed the following notice on each page: "Under Minnesota Statutes 3.979, subd. 4, it is unlawful to disclose any part of this draft to anyone not authorized to review it until it is released by the Office of the Legislative Auditor." A letter addressed to Mayor Bergson accompanying the draft emphasized the obligation and specifically said he was not authorized to show the draft to anyone except a city employee.

On May 27, 2005, both an article and editorial concerning the Minnesota Council on Compulsive Gambling and OLA's draft report appeared in the News Tribune. Shortly thereafter, Bergson took responsibility for providing the draft audit report to the paper and apologized to my office. While I appreciated Mayor Bergson's response, the fact is he did violate Minnesota law -- a law that serves a good purpose.

In essence, the Legislature classified draft audit reports as "not public" to facilitate an orderly and fair audit process. Legislators -- and I would hope the News Tribune -- expect auditors to thoroughly and thoughtfully consider all of the evidence before issuing a report. There is little value in having auditors dribble out preliminary findings that are subject to change. An audit report should not be a work in progress but a fully considered professional judgment on well-established facts. Indeed, legislators themselves do not receive -- and do not want -- draft audit reports.

Of course, I realize that you are in the news business and beating your competition to a good story is a daily goal. Nevertheless, I think you should show greater regard for the audit process and the law.

JIM NOBLES is the legislative auditor of the state of Minnesota.