COEUR d'ALENE - Lake City Development Corp. Executive Director Tony Berns said Monday he will only conduct interviews with The Press through email.

The decision comes after a dispute between the agency and one of its bigger critics, Mary Souza, regarding a public records request in which the newspaper had become involved.

Berns didn't say the paper's inquiry into the dispute played a role in his decision, but said Monday it's his preference to do interviews through email in the future, which had not been a previous policy.

An email sent Monday afternoon seeking reasons for the decision wasn't returned.

Meanwhile, City Council member Deanna Goodlander, a city liaison on the LCDC board, called the decision disappointing.

"I'm sorry to see that," she said. "It's not my decision, obviously. But I think it's really important we have an open dialogue with the public."

On Wednesday, the newspaper asked Berns about the status of a records request Souza sent to him in the body on an email on Sept. 28. The email requested a copy of an updated spreadsheet of LCDC's projects, but did not include LCDC's records request form.

The Idaho Attorney General's records request manual states that "Section 9-338(4) permits but does not require that requests for access to public documents be made in writing. If a written request is required by the public agency, the individual may be required to provide a mailing address and telephone number."

Berns notified Souza she needed to fill out LCDC's form, which is on the agency's website.

Souza told Berns she included all the information that the records request seeks, only in the body of the email. She told The Press the online form didn't allow her to type into it, and she wanted the one page spreadsheet digitally for a PowerPoint presentation on city issues she's giving at 6:30 tonight at the Lake City Center.

The two exchanged emails until Oct. 4 about the process. Berns emailed her LCDC's form, but Souza maintained her email should have been good enough, since the spirit of public records law states that departments should err on the side of sharing information when in doubt.

Berns told The Press Wednesday he was checking with LCDC's legal representation to see if the law had changed in the 2011 legislative session that would prohibit public agencies from requiring a specific form, which the board understood it could do. He said using the same form helps with record keeping.

On Thursday, he sent Souza the spreadsheet though the mail.

"I think it was a good decision on Tony's part to fulfill the request," said Danielle Quade, the agency's legal representative, adding the board could require its own forms. "We always want to lean on the side of full disclosure."

On Friday, Berns requested any questions on the story be submitted through email, which they were.

His response email stated that no one has had a problem filling out the required form before, pointed out that Souza had filled it out in years past and that mail is the most secure way to send the public information.

Berns said The Press contacting him did not prompt him to send the information to Souza, but he felt it was appropriate to do so as legal research continued. Berns wrote that the board, which adopted the policy that is stated on its website, could always revise its own rules. Any sort of perceived delay in response had nothing to do with Souza's presentation, either.

"No one has had an issue with completing the LCDC public record request form per the LCDC public record policy," he wrote. "I'm not sure why Mrs. Souza is declining to follow LCDC public record request protocol at this time."

On Monday he said future interviews would be conducted through email.

Goodlander - who suggested during the board's fiscal planning session on May 6 that the agency consider hiring a public information's officer to help with media and other public discussions - said Berns' response to Souza's request was proper.

She added that the agency, which contracted consultant PAC/West in 2008 for $35,000 to help identify ways to improve its communication strategy, could still improve public communication.