AG: Carney can keep his Rodney Square bus hub emails private

Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect the belief of the attorney general's office that an in-camera review of the governor's emails was not within its power. 

Gov. John Carney's emails about the dismantling of the Rodney Square bus hub in Wilmington will remain hidden from the public.

In an opinion issued Friday afternoon, the Attorney General's Office said Carney did not violate the Freedom of Information Act by redacting dozens of emails about the former bus hub. That decision by the governor and Wilmington mayor burdened thousands of riders, advocates say. 

"They completely failed the public trust in this opinion, which falls so far short of common sense," said John Flaherty, a member of the Coalition to Return Bus Service to Rodney Square. 

Rider advocates had hoped the emails would shed light on the governor's reasoning for orchestrating the dispersal of bus stops from Rodney Square in December.

Officials initially claimed they removed the bus hub because of traffic congestion, but later Carney and Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki made it clear that the buses didn't fit into their vision for the square.

Protestors feel Carney and Purzycki are neglecting low-income and elderly bus riders to accommodate business interests who, coalition members say, don't want poor people in their front yard.  

That view was reinforced when The News Journal published emails in March showing that representatives of Chemours and the Buccini/Pollin Group had lobbied Carney to get the buses out of the square. 

The coalition was seeking more emails showing who and what influenced the governor's decision. After months of waiting, they received three batches of heavily redacted emails that provided no clarity.

The governor's team asserted "executive privilege," a common law and constitutional privilege recognized in Delaware law “with respect to the source and substance of communications to and from the Governor in exercise of his appointive power," according to the opinion by Chief Deputy Attorney General Aaron R. Goldstein.

Flaherty believes the AG's office could have done an "in-camera review" of the emails to determine whether the governor had withheld information that should be public. 

"That would’ve satisfied everyone’s interest," Flaherty said. "They could’ve examined the emails to see if the executive privilege was valid, and they chose not to exercise it." 

The AG opinion disputes this by stating: "our inquiry is limited to assessing whether (the governor's office) properly raised and explained its decision to make redactions."

"We believe that only a court, through its ability to order in-camera review, is capable of that kind of analysis," the opinion states. 

The Governor's Office provided an affidavit attesting that the redacted records were personally reviewed, that there was a “good faith basis" for the redactions, and that the redactions were appropriate, according to the AG opinion.

That was apparently good enough for the AG, but it shouldn't be, according to Flaherty. 

"Moving a bus stop should not be part of executive privilege if the discussion is with outside businesspeople," he said. 

Protesters from the coalition have spoken out in numerous public meetings and protests, including a march to Carney's office on Thursday. Advocates presented the governor's spokesman with over 2,000 signatures and an invitation to meet with them. 

The group has argued that stops dispersed around downtown are inconvenient and a burden on elderly and disabled riders.

There is significant public interest in how the hub was dismantled, Flaherty said, and the coalition will keep fighting for answers.  

"It's a very disappointing opinion," he said. "In Delaware, the public's right to know is not being upheld." 

The News Journal requested an interview with Carney on Friday afternoon after the opinion was released.

His communications director, Jonathan Starkey, said they "probably can't make that happen this afternoon." Asked why, Starkey did not respond. 

Contact Christina Jedra at cjedra@delawareonline.com, (302) 324-2837 or on Twitter @ChristinaJedra.

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