Jeffrey A. Roberts of the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition makes it clear in his end-of-the year blog that open records and an informed citizenry are allies in a war of many skirmishes.

He lays out 18 Colorado situations in 2016 alone that seem to strain reason in the way public officials have handled the public records that show how the public’s business is done. Just because the public pays the bills doesn’t always mean the public has a right to know everything.

Coloradans such as Roberts and CFOIC board president Steve Zansberg form the line of defense that keeps public records open to the public’s review. (Disclosure: Roberts and I are longtime friends and former colleagues at The Denver Post.)

Like progressive blogger Jason Salzman did Tuesday, Roberts takes on fake news sites:

We shudder to think what the Founding Fathers would say about this. Thomas Jefferson might remind us of something he wrote 200 years ago: “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.”