Gov. Tim Walz is reneging on promises to release his daily schedule to the public.
"Calendars are classified as private data under Minnesota Statutes," Deputy General Counsel Emily Parks wrote in an e-mail to the Star Tribune on Friday, responding to an April public records request for Walz's calendar.
Asked at a June 4 meeting of the Society of Professional Journalists if he would make his calendar public, Walz said he would: "It's my hope that we are able to do that and give more than has ever been given by the governor's office."
During the transition following his election in 2018, Walz made a similar pledge.
In denying the Star Tribune's records request, Walz's counsel referenced a 1996 advisory opinion from the state Department of Administration, as well as state statute. The state's public records law narrowly defines what information about government employees — in this case, the governor — is public and therefore subject to disclosure. An employee's calendar is not within that narrow scope, which includes only basic information like name, job title, salary and the outcome of any disciplinary proceedings. Both former Govs. Tim Pawlenty and Mark Dayton used a similar rationale for denying requests to see their calendars.
The political dangers of releasing his calendar are evident: Minnesotans would find out which influential and ordinary interest groups and citizens he is meeting with — or avoiding.
Former Vice President Richard Cheney, for instance, fought legal challenges that sought to reveal his meetings as part of a White House energy task force in 2001. The White House ultimately prevailed at the U.S. Supreme Court in 2004. The Washington Post later revealed the prevalence of fossil fuel industry officials who met with the Cheney task force.
Like previous governors, Walz's office updates the public on his activities, usually a day in advance. Unlike Dayton, however, Walz's office has generally included only public events that are open to the press and has often gone days without reporting anything on the governor's activities or meetings because none of them were deemed public. For instance, Walz has been participating in a series of ceremonial bill signings this week that included members of the public and Legislature but were not on the calendar released to the public.
Walz's office said that from now on, it will provide a more complete calendar of events, including some — but not all — of his private meetings and calls.
But this means the public will not be informed of Walz's meetings and activities in the crucial first months since his inauguration, when he was building a team, drawing up his first budget and making key decisions on contentious issues like the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline.
"I'm disheartened that the governor has changed his mind after pledging last week to a room filled with journalists from around Minnesota that he would be open and transparent in his role, specifically regarding his calendar," said Star Tribune Managing Editor Suki Dardarian.
MPR News also filed an official records request for the governor's daily calendar beyond the limited details put out by his office, the news organization reported Friday.
Michael Brodkorb, former Republican operative and now a true crime writer, also filed public records requests related to the Walz transition, which he said have all been denied.
"Candidate Walz made statements about transparency and how he would approach the job. He is not following through on that. The public should be able to see more," Brodkorb said.
J. Patrick Coolican • 651-925-5042
