The ECHO-Association – GRAMA Appeal to Utah State Records Committee

From: The ECHO-Association <m.tracy@echo-association.com>
Date: April 19, 2021 at 11:58:07 AM PDT
To: SRCsecretary@utah.gov
Cc: Jennifer Hawkes <hawkes@ecmetro.org>, eric@ecid.org, mike@ecid.org, brent@ecid.org, dave@ecid.org
Subject: Appeal to the Utah State Records Committee – Ref: Legal Invoices of the Salt Lake City Law Firm Cohne Kinghorn P.C.

Rebekkah Shaw
SRC Executive Secretary
346 S. Rio Grande
Salt Lake City, UT 84101-1106
Phone: 801-531-3851
Fax: 801-531-3867
Email: SRCsecretary@utah.gov

Dear Ms. Shaw,

We hereby appeal the “affirmed denial” of the Chief Administrative Officer of Emigration Improvement District (“EID” aka Emigration Canyon Improvement District aka ECID) under Utah Code Ann. 63G-2-403 regarding the de facto refusal to disclose legal invoices of the Salt Lake City law firm Cohne Kinghorn P.C. affirmed to be maintained at the private residence of Emigration Canyon Deputy Mayor Jennifer Hawkes (“Deputy Mayor Hawkes”) and EID General Manager / EID Financial Manager Eric Hawkes (“Mr. Hawkes”) of the Simplifi Company.

Please note the following for the purpose of this appeal:

Name: Mark Christopher Tracy dba Emigration Canyon Home Owners Association (“The ECHO-Association”)

Mailing Address: 1160 E. Buchnel Dr., Sandy, Utah 84094

Daytime Phone Number: 929-208-6010

Date of GRAMA Request: February 11, 2021 (see email correspondence to EID certified public records officer Eric Hawkes available at website maintained by The ECHO-Association at https://echo-association.com/?page_id=7634).

Date of GRAMA Denial: February 24, 2021 (see email correspondence of Utah Attorney Jeremy R. Cook of the Salt Lake City law firm Cohne Kinghorn P.C available at website maintained by The ECHO-Association at https://echo-association.com/?page_id=8208).

Date of GRAMA Appeal: March 23, 2021 (see email correspondence to EID Trustee Chairman and EID Chief Administrative Officer Michaels Scott Hughes available at website maintained by The ECHO-Association at https://echo-association.com/?page_id=8208).

Date of GRAMA Decision of the Chief Administrative Officer: No response.

Relief Sought / Grounds for Appeal:

Under Utah Code Ann. sec. 63G-2-201(1)(a) “a person has the right to inspect a public record free of charge, and the right to take a copy of a public record during normal working hours” if the record is not privileged or confidential while the intentional refusal to disclose public records may be a criminal offense under Utah Code Ann. sec. 63G-2-801(3)(a).

We have reason to believe that EID Financial Manager Eric Hawkes of the Simplifi Company may be improperly diverting taxpayer funds for the private legal defense of himself, the Simplifi Company and Deputy Mayor Hawkes in litigation currently pending with the Utah Supreme Court and the Utah Court of Appeals (see https://echo-association.com/?page_id=8254; see also https://echo-association.com/?page_id=8200).

Please feel free to contact me directly with any questions.

Kind Regards,

Mark Christopher Tracy
dba Emigration Canyon Home Owners Association
Tel. 929-208-6010