In the 1991 comedy “The Addams Family,” there is a scene with the family gathered around the dinner table. As they are eating, Wednesday turns to Fester and says, “Pass me the salt.” Attempting to improve her daughter’s table manners, Morticia prompts her daughter: “Now, Wednesday, what do we say?”

Recognizing her breach of etiquette, Wednesday corrects herself and says, “Pass the salt … now!”

We are reminded of the scene by a recent exchange between the city of Columbus and the Columbus Redevelopment Authority. Sometimes, it’s not so much what you ask for as how you ask for it that makes the difference.

City officials are asking the CRA to provide, among other things, all of its financial records and meeting minutes since its formation in 2014. To the degree that this information is public record, we have no objection to that request. We have long stated that public records should be available to all and that certainly doesn’t exclude the CRA.

But the timing and tone of the request suggests the motivation may be more pettiness and spite than strictly in the interest of public transparency.

For nine years, the city has been content to let the CRA manage its affairs without ever asking for its minutes or financials.

So the question arises: Why now?

It’s likely no coincidence that the city’s interest in the CRA’s records comes on the heels of a major setback for Mayor Keith Gaskin. In the 2023 session, the legislature approved $3 million funding for infrastructure for the CRA’s Burns Bottom redevelopment project while the city’s request for funding for the Terry Brown Amphitheater, which hasn’t received any state funding since 2019, was denied. The estimated cost to complete the facility is $4 million.

So, in October, when the CRA announced its intention to hire a lobbyist to pursue additional funding for its Burns Bottom redevelopment project, Gaskin objected, questioning the legality of CRA hiring its own lobbyist rather than share lobbying efforts with the city’s existing lobbyist. When the attorney general’s office rendered no opinion on the matter, the CRA followed through, hiring its own lobbyist earlier this month.

Currently the city pays $60,000 per year for state and federal lobbying. The CRA had been paying $36,000 per year for state lobbying services, but has agreed to pay Cornerstone $120,000 for additional lobbying efforts in DC.

For Gaskin, completion of the amphitheater remains the city’s top legislative priority. Consolidating lobby efforts around that priority would greatly improve the city’s prospects for those amphitheater funds, he believes.

But the CRA’s priorities are not the city’s priorities. The CRA’s mission is narrowly-defined – to redevelop blighted areas within the city. The completion of the Burns Bottom project is overwhelmingly the CRA’s major focus. Most of the city council seems to understand this and does not appear to resent the CRA’s aggressive approach to lobbying.

To the mayor, upping the ante on lobbying services by the CRA is a threat to the amphitheater project. We understand the mayor’s frustration, but we do not believe the efforts to raise funds for the amphitheater should be considered the zero-sum game the mayor seems to think it is.

Enmity between the city and the CRA achieves nothing.

To its credit, the CRA seems poised to comply with the mayor’s request.

We do question the city’s sudden interest in the CRA’s business operations, though. Is the city looking for something to undermine CRA efforts? It could be perceived that way. What we can confidently state at this point is that, as requests go, the city’s request for CRA records is more “now!” than “please.”

The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.