funds in which CalPERS is an investor. Previously, the information was provided by CalPERS to the authors of a publicly-available academic article (“the article”).
1
 CalPERS systematically delayed disclosing any records whatsoever to Petitioner. When CalPERS finally did disclose records, it sent data pertaining to 2012 and 2013 only. CalPERS’ position is that the data it disclosed is consistent with Petitioner’s request. Petitioner strenuously disagrees. CalPERS’ position undermines article I, section 3(b) of the California Constitution, which opens government records to public scrutiny. Petitioner seeks to shed light on whether CalPERS has been a responsible steward of public employee investment funds.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
2.Petitioner Aurora Advisors Incorporated (“Aurora”) is a New York corporation. Based in New York City, Aurora is a  management consulting firm. Its areas of expertise include financial services and corporate finance advisory. It publishes Naked Capitalism, a blog edited by Susan Webber (“Ms. Webber”), Aurora’s President. The blog has 1.5 million page views a month and has over 250,000 monthly unique viewers. Ms. Webber is a respected journalist, writing under the pen name, Yves Smith. Her blog ranks at or near the top of various analyses of financial and economic blog influence, in no small part due to the fact that she has an active 2PETITION FOR WRIT OF MANDATE UNDER THE CALIFORNIA PUBLIC RECORDS ACT
1
 Jenkinson, Tim and Sousa, Miguel and Stucke, Rüdiger, How Fair are the Valuations of Private Equity Funds? (February 27, 2013). Publicly available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2229547 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2229547
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readership among financial regulators and members of
 
Congress. For
 
instance, her site was the only blog mentioned in former FDIC chairman Sheila Bair's book, B
ULL BY THE
H
ORNS
, for having been instrumental in a regulatory battle. During 2009 and 2010, Ms. Webber was part of a a small group of other influential economics bloggers who met with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. Ms. Webber also has many years of experience  working in finance at an elite level. As a former
 
Goldman Sachs investment banker, McKinsey consultant, and head of  mergers & acquisitions of Sumitomo Bank, she is particularly qualified to analyze and comment on practices in the private
 
equity industry, and intends to use the data requested in an ongoing series of publications on private equity.
 
3.On or about 29 September 2013, Ms. Webber contacted CalPERS via a webpage form to request certain private equity returns data provided by CalPERS to researchers Jenkinson, et al.. 4.On 16 October 2013, receiving no response, Ms. Webber again contacted CalPERS via the website form, tracking number 1385. (See Exhibit A). Ms. Webber had examined a publicly available PRA log of all requests received in September 2013 and had not found a record of her request. She sought confirmation that CalPERS had 1) received her original 29 September 2013 request and 2) an explanation of why the request did not appear in the PRA log for September. 5.Within 24 hours, Barbara Galli, Public Records Act Coordinator, replied on behalf of the CalPERS Office of Stakeholder Relations. (See Exhibit B). Ms. Galli found no record of Aurora’s September 2013 request, and indicated that 3PETITION FOR WRIT OF MANDATE UNDER THE CALIFORNIA PUBLIC RECORDS ACT12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728
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