A complaint was filed with the Ombudsman's office by Earl Smith on May 26, 2006, against Pacific Junction Mayor Jim Lovely following a conversation in which Lovely allegedly denied him a copy of the city's detailed budget.

The conversation was tape-recorded by Smith and portions of it were released in a report sent by the Ombudsman's office:

Mayor Lovely: "You want a copy of what now?"

Smith: "The detailed budget from the one that was published in the paper May the third."

Mayor Lovely: "It's immaterial now."

Smith: "Are you denying me a copy of it?"

Mayor Lovely: "Yes."

Smith: "And for what reason?"

Mayor Lovely: "Because that has no bearing on this year's budget at all."

Throughout the investigation, City Attorney T.J. Pattermann and Lovely claimed that the mayor did not deny Smith's request for the public record, the release stated.

"I did say I was declining him a copy of that article he was asking for, until I had a chance to speak with the city attorney," Lovely told the Ombudsman. "That was the entire gist of the conversation."

The Ombudsman's report found that the mayor's explanation was not supported by the audiotape evidence and issued the following recommendations to Lovely.

n Apologize to Smith and provide him with the item in question

n Review Iowa Code Chapter 22 as well as the "Sunshine Advisories," and other documents to refamiliarize with their requirements

n Offer to contact the city attorney and get back to the requestor of a document as soon as reasonably possible in the future

- Nicole Weis