Sheriff's Office Not Looking for Anyone's Support on County Records Request, Chagolla Says

We heard from Maricopa County Sheriff's Deputy Chief Paul Chagolla following our post this afternoon about his office's request of public records from the county: He takes issue with our quip about him wanting the media to rally behind its request."I wasn't looking for anybody's support," Chagolla says of his...

By Ray Stern

May 13, 2009

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We heard from Maricopa County Sheriff's Deputy Chief Paul Chagolla following our post this afternoon about his office's request of public records from the county: He takes issue with our quip about him wanting the media to rally behind its request.

"I wasn't looking for anybody's support," Chagolla says of his comments to the Arizona Republic. "It's inaccurate to say we're looking for the Republic's support."

Chagolla went on to say that the full context of his editorial-letter debate with the newspaper has yet to be revealed, but that the Republic may write about the subject again in a few days. Don't you love a good mystery?

Before we hung up, naturally we asked Chagolla if he saw the irony of his newfound support for the public records law, considering his office's long history of flouting it. He wouldn't take the bait.

"We expect to receive the records," he says.

We can only hope the request will be worth its potential $911,000 pricetag.

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Ray Stern is the former news editor of Phoenix New Times. He worked as a newspaper reporter in Arizona for more than two decades. He's won numerous awards for his reporting, including the Arizona Press Club's Don Bolles Award for Investigative Journalism.