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[Note: This material is copyright by the Press-Citizen, and is reproduced here as a matter of "fair use" for non-commercial, educational purposes only. Any other use may require the prior approval of the Iowa City Press-Citizen.]

"The question there is if Mr. Colloton still has a secretary and still uses the offices of the university, it is awfully difficult for me to see why he doesn't come under the public domain," Dvorsky said.

This and other concerns of public bodies' transparency such as the Iowa state Board of Regents' handling of the UI presidential search, the scandal at the Central Iowa Employment Training Consortium and the disclosure of TouchPlay financial records by the Iowa Lottery Commission, are prompting calls from legislators, including Dvorsky, to review and possibly change Iowa's so-called sunshine laws, or open meeting and open record laws.

UI, on the advice of the Iowa Attorney General, rejected requests for Colloton's documents stating he is a private person. This despite his maintaining an office at University Hospitals, utilizing state equipment, a state-provided secretary and the highest level parking permit, and presenting himself as part of UI through use of UI letterhead and a UI e-mail account.

Since 2001, Colloton has been director emeritus of University Hospitals after a long and, by many accounts, visionary tenure as director of the hospital. Colloton also has been on the Wellmark Board of Directors since 1974 and served as the board chairman from 1993 to 2000 and as the lead director since 2000.

The Press-Citizen filed an open records request to authenticate documents received anonymously that appear to show Colloton's correspondence with Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, Regent President Michael Gartner and former UI President David Skorton among others on the topics of the Wellmark contract controversy of 2004 and 2005, the UI presidential search and restructuring of UI and University Hospitals.

UI now is investigating a security breach, which is linked to how the Colloton documents were accessed, and the Board of Regent office also is looking into what happened.

Dvorsky said Colloton's name is buzzing around the Legislature.

"There are questions about what were the regents looking for and about Wellmark, Iowa Health Systems and Des Moines health operations and the selection of a (UI) president and Mr. Colloton's involvement. That is all swirling around," Dvorsky said. "The reason there are so many rumors is that regents are trying so hard to violate open meetings laws. If they were more open, then people wouldn't be so distrustful."

Dvorsky and others are hoping to tighten those laws. Dvorsky said the laws haven't been reviewed in a long time and that e-mail communications now need to be considered.

Two Dubuque Democrats, Rep. Pam Jochum, leader of the House State Government Committee, and Sen. Mike Connolly, leader of the Senate State Government Committee, say they should review if lawmakers need to tighten confidentiality exemptions in open records and meetings laws, streamline the administrative and legal procedures used to determine whether records should be disclosed and toughen civil penalties for violators.

Dvorsky said he hoped there could be hearings and legislation this year. Jochum and Connolly are hoping to have it hammered out within two years.

The regents have been magnets for criticism.

"The regents have a myriad of ways to violate the spirit of the law, if not technically the law," Dvorsky said. "There should be a sense on the part of the Board of Regents where they operate as a public agency for the public good in public. Their intent seems to be to avert giving people information."

The board has been called out for making decisions by e-mail rather than through public discussion and for its handling of the presidential search. That search was mired in secrecy and broad-ranging confidentiality agreements.

In November, regents ended a board meeting in closed session then met several times in the next week without notice of time, date or location, which is required according to state law. Regents say the meetings were OK'd by board office lawyers.

The "rolling" meetings and the belief that the search process was being discussed in closed session prompted the Press-Citizen to file a lawsuit against the regents in December.