By Brenna R. Kelly
Enquirer staff writer

BURLINGTON - A judge will hear arguments next week about whether financial records submitted to the city of Florence as part of the lease with the Florence Freedom's owners are public record.

Chuck Hildebrant, 45, a part owner of the Florence Freedom, gave personal financial the records to Florence to get the city to lease city-owned land for the minor league team's stadium.

After a request from Hildebrant's attorney, a Boone County Circuit judge issued a restraining order earlier this month preventing the city from releasing records, which had been requested by The Kentucky Enquirer under the state's open records law.

The Enquirer has asked a judge to release the records. A hearing is set for Sept. 7.

Hildebrant's attorney maintains that the records are private and do not fall under the state's open records law. The Enquirer argues that the records, which are part of a lease on city-owned land, should be open to public view.

In briefs filed this week, city attorney Hugh Skees said "that city is of the opinion that the public's right to know outweighs Hildebrant's privacy and that the documents should be disclosed."

The city required the statement because Hildebrant and his wife, Connie, guaranteed they had enough assets to cover the cost of the stadium and fulfill the lease.

Releasing the records would "constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy," wrote Hildebrant's attorney Stephen Wolnitzek.

Wolnitzek also argued that city officials promised the records would be kept private. At a meeting in Aug. 2003, Florence city officials "indicated to Mr. Hildebrant that under no circumstances would Mr. Hildebrant's financial statements be seen by anyone other than those present at the meeting," Wolnitzek wrote.

Because the statements were submitted to get a lease on city land, and the city expected the project to bring commerce to Florence if the records were released, "a detrimental precedent would be set that likely would hinder local government's ability to attract commerce in the future."

But the records should be open so the public can monitor how Florence officials spent city money, Enquirer attorney Paul Alley argued.

"How Florence handled its negotiations, background checks and appropriated its own funds can, in part, be judged by how reasonable it was to accept the records at face value," Alley wrote.

In a lawsuit filed Aug. 23 against Hildebrant and the baseball ownership group, Northern Kentucky Professional Baseball, the city says the records are false.

The statement "was a gross overstatement of his financial condition," the lawsuit states. It goes on to say that Hildebrant used the false statement "with the intent and purpose of misleading the city into relying on them."

The city did not submit the financial statements as part the lawsuit because of the restraining order. But Wednesday, the judge narrowed the scope of the order, amending it to say that the records could not be released in response to an open-records request.

In the lawsuit, the city is asking for punitive damages from Hildebrant in addition to missed rent on the stadium. Hildebrant also faces $4 million in liens filed by contractors for work on the stadium. He has been ordered by two Ohio judges to repay nearly $4.5 million in bank loans and is under investigation by the FBI over how he financed the stadium.

Only by releasing Hildebrant's financial records will the public know if "Florence's actions to date have been in good stewardship of public funds and lands," Alley wrote.

"Disclosure of Hildebrant's financial records will reveal Florence's conduct and the precautions it took prior to leasing public land and obligating public funds in support of the baseball venture," the brief states.

Hildebrant, an investor in a "high profile, publicly financed construction project" who submitted records to a public agency in return for a lease had no reasonable expectation of privacy, Alley argued.

"Any alleged privacy interest in the records is far outweighed by the legitimate public interest in why Florence initially agreed to the lease, as well as Hildebrant's own ability to make good on millions of dollars in mechanics' liens and monies owed to Florence," Alley's brief states.

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E-mail bkelly@enquirer.com