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WEST VALLEY CITY -- This weekend, West Valley City will officially celebrate the renaming of the E Center. Maverik, the convenience store chain, is paying something for the naming rights, but so far city officials refuse to disclose how much.
The renaming of the arena is an especially big deal for West Valley because the city owns it.
West Valley City Councilman Corey Rushton says selling the naming rights to Maverik means millions of dollars over multiple years. But city officials won't reveal exactly how much, apparently to protect the business's privacy.
It's clearly public information; and the reason they're keeping it private is mystifying to me.
–Dave Reymann, First Amendment attorney
"I'm not sure on that as much as just we're waiting for the signs to be put on the E Center, waiting for the dust to settle, waiting for the first event," Rushton says.
But Advocates for Open Government say that with a public building generating public monies, the amount the city is making from the naming rights should be public too.
"It's a shell game," First Amendment attorney Dave Reymann says.
Reymann has fought for open government records for years. He says this case isn't even a close call.
"It's clearly public information; and the reason they're keeping it private is mystifying to me," he says. "It's mystifying under the public records statute, and it should be released."
The city is willing to admit that it's giving more business to Maverik. In fact, it issued an executive order telling employees filling up with city gas cards to visit either government pumps or Maverik stations -- a concession the city manager admits the company requested and got during negotiations.
That move irked the owners of Holiday Oil, which has been based in West Valley City for 45 years and is earning more than $200,000 a year on the city's business.
In the meantime, news organizations plan to appeal the denial of their records request on the deal.
Calls KSL New made Friday to Maverik and Centennial Management Group, which manages the arena, were not returned.
The official renaming of the E Center happens with a ceremony and concert Saturday.
E-mail: jdaley@ksl.com
