A group of current and former employees have taken the unusual step of publicly airing dissatisfaction with the Maricopa County Air Quality Department's leadership, alleging that private interests are influencing department policies behind closed doors.

The group has enlisted the help of a state lawmaker and a national environmental public-employees group to blow the whistle on what they perceive as problems within the agency.

The department's director, William Wiley, holds private monthly meetings to discuss policy changes with a group he calls the Clean Air Council, composed entirely of local stakeholders such as members of private industry and local cities. Although Wiley said the meetings amounted to standard procedure within a regulatory agency, and that they have never been closed to employees, critics of the arrangement say the meetings are clandestine affairs in which key decisions are made without public observation and input.

The Arizona Attorney General's Office has ruled the Clean Air Council's meetings are not subject to the Arizona Open Meeting Law.

At the Air Quality Department, Wiley recently implemented a compliance-assurance policy that pairs enforcement with outreach and education of potential polluters about public-health risks and county regulations.

Rep. Daniel Patterson, D-Tucson, southwest director for Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, this summer called on Wiley to voluntarily apply the Open Meeting Law to the Clean Air Council to minimize perceptions of secretive behavior, especially given the region's years-long struggle to comply with federal dust-pollution standards.

"It certainly is an area that is sensitive right now, as environmental protection by the state of Arizona is being subject to so many budget cuts," said Kirsten Engel, who teaches environmental and administrative law at the University of Arizona. "I would hope that public agencies at this time would be going out of their way to be inclusive and to get advice from people across the spectrum."

Open Meeting Law

State law requires all meetings held by any "public body" to be open. This applies to "all multimember governing bodies" as well as advisory committees that are "officially established, on motion and order of a public body or by the presiding officer of the public body."

Because Wiley is a department head and not a member of a public body, he can hold meetings with advisers that are not subject to open-meeting law, experts said. That means the Clean Air Council, his own advisory group, has no legal obligation to post meeting minutes or notices.

Records related to the Clean Air Council's activities, however, are still subject to the Arizona Public Records Law.

In June, Patterson's group sent a release to news outlets accusing the Air Quality Department of "clubby, closed-door dealing on matters affecting public health and quality of life."

Monthly meeting agendas released to The Arizona Republic in response to a public-records request show members discuss a range of topics, including proposed changes to permit fees and particulate exceedances at air-quality monitors.

There were 17 companies, firms, trade associations and local governments on the council as of July. Wiley said membership was fluid, and representatives can come and go as they please.

Councilman Christian Stumpf, regional director of advocacy for the American Lung Association of the Southwest, said the group acted as a "sounding board" for coming changes to agency policy and plans.

"We wouldn't be invited if there is anything shady going on," Stumpf said. "We think it's been a very valuable committee that he's (Wiley) set up."

Wiley said the council's meetings were not closed to the public or to employees.

"Nobody's excluded. But I'm trying to keep the meeting so that we can have dialogue," he said. "So if you have 100 people, you don't have dialogue. To have an effective meeting . . . something in the range of about 15 people is the most you can have dialogue with. But if they want to attend, that's fine."

David Cuillier, a University of Arizona journalism professor who teaches classes on open government and freedom of information, said it would be "good governance" for Wiley to do that. Groups such as the Clean Air Council should make their meetings extra transparent if they are participating in discussions that affect public policy, he said.

"Whether it's legal or not doesn't really matter," said Cuillier, chairman of the Society of Professional Journalists' Freedom of Information Committee. "Do we want to protect corporations from feeling uncomfortable, or do we want to err on the side of making sure the public knows what's going on? Personally, I am on the side of the public."

Perceptions

Employee concerns may be magnified by department layoffs and budget cuts in recent years. Since 2008, the county Air Quality Department has had three rounds of layoffs that reduced its size by nearly half. The department's budget largely relies on permit fees, which are way down because of the economic downturn.

Patterson said the director's private meetings with the council have only increased concerns among employees that the department was losing its regulatory authority.

"These are the very people that the agency is supposed to be watching, and instead it seems like they're in bed with them," said Patterson, an ecologist. "Why not just open your door and let people know what's going on, especially when you've got staff experts that have great, legitimate concerns (about air quality) and you have many compelling reasons to clean up the air?"

Wiley said he empathized. Not everybody is happy with policy and staffing changes that have taken place since he was appointed a year ago. But it is even more important to involve stakeholders as the department goes through transitions driven by new legislation and the economy, he said.

"If people understand us and understand what our role is and what we have to do, they'll support us better in meeting our role," Wiley said. "That's part of what reaching out to the stakeholders does. And I'm not sure all employees see that."

Some experts agree. For example, Maricopa County is in the process of coming up with a plan to comply with federal dust-pollution limits. Industry representatives can bring to that discussion specialized knowledge of how their business is run and what technology they need to follow air-quality rules.

James Anderson, senior research scientist at Arizona State University's School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, said county air-quality staff should not be overly worried about the Clean Air Council having too much sway in policymaking.

Policy decisions must eventually be made public, and big changes would be scrutinized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, he said.

"One should never suppose that the group can ever conspire to do something together," Anderson said. "What they (stakeholders) tend to do is point their fingers at each other when there are violations of dust. From what I know, and from many years of dealing with issues, those councils don't make policy. But they try to influence policy."