SECRET LEASE PUTS SHASTA COUNTY IN COVERT COMPANY

If you thought only the CIA agents waging the war on terrorism relied
on "black sites," think again.

To make room for the growth of a multi-agency anti-drug team led by
the Shasta County Sheriff's Department, Sheriff Tom Bosenko is asking
the Board of Supervisors to sign off on a lease for new offices.

The space? About 3,629 usable square feet.

The rent? $6,330 per month.

The location? None of your business, citizen.

In the version of the lease available for public inspection -- and
even for the supervisors' review -- the Redding building's address is
blacked out.

Why the secrecy? For safety's sake, County Administrative Officer
Larry Lees said.

"They're playing with some dangerous people here," Lees added. "We're
not talking about local people here. We're talking about the potential
for folks from out of the country."

Mexican drug cartels, by most accounts, ship methamphetamine
throughout the state and grow marijuana in California's woods. Those
gangs are behind some appalling violence south of the border.

Because of the risks of law enforcement, officers' home addresses and
other personal information are kept confidential.

But does that zone of secrecy extend to police buildings leased with
public money?

The California Public Records Act doesn't say so. The presumption that
government records are open to public scrutiny has many legal
exemptions, but those loopholes do not appear to include long-term
leases for police hide-outs.

The drug task force does valuable work fighting a scourge that has
wrecked all too many lives in the north state. As a practical matter,
drug investigations involve undercover work, which demands discretion
and subterfuge.

But it's one thing to deceive meth dealers and pot growers on the way
to arresting them. It's quite another to keep the taxpayers in the
dark about how their money is being spent.

A lease for an undisclosed location sets a troubling precedent for the
county, which ought to leave the secret safe houses to the spooks.