Santa Fe City Manager John Blair’s action to withhold a letter from members of the City Council and subsequently the public is troubling and the very antithesis of what the state’s sunshine laws are all about.

The state Department of Finance and Administration last month sent a letter to the city of Santa Fe stating it would not be able to issue new grant agreements or bonded debt for projects until the city fulfilled audit requirements. Blair failed to share the letter with city councilors after receiving it.

The New Mexico Foundation for Open Government shares the frustration of Santa Fe city councilors about being “left out of the loop” about a state capital funding delay due to tardy financial audits. At first glance the decision is galling; a closer look begs the question, “What else is he hiding?”

Blair only told the members of the council about the letter detailing the lack of audits after a news story was set to appear. He justified his actions concluding that there were ongoing discussions between the city and the state agency that sent the letter, “The fewer people who knew that the better in terms of it ultimately ending up in the newspaper.”

Several council members were rightly upset that they were not even aware of the letter until Blair called them the night before the article was to be published.

Transparency isn’t important just because of possible corruption. It’s important because these are taxpayer

dollars at work, and the public deserves to know how the city operates and spends its money.

FOG reminds Blair and his boss, Mayor Alan Webber, that openness and accountability are the cornerstones of good government.

FOG believes a letter from a state agency to the city of Santa

Fe about a topic as important as capital outlay is public from the start. Any attempt to withhold the information and limit the public’s right to know could be considered misconduct — and unacceptable for a public official.