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There are three legislative proposals set to in . One bill would require a response to Freedom of Information Act requests in three days. Currently, the does not specify response times.
Another proposed change would require courts to expedite cases involving public records requests, while the third bill would require government bodies to record executive sessions.
Forcing governments to comply to a time frame in answering public records requests is a great step towards more openness. Tightening response times for FOIA responses was one way Illinois dealt with its government transparency problems. And as far as recording executive sessions–what better way to ensure that all citizens have access to open government. Doing so would be in the spirit of the .
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Ohio Governor-elect (R) is not shy about explaining why he’ll post resumes of public job candidates: .
Kasich solicited resumes for 4,700 state government jobs, including some high-ranking positions.
He feels that the fact that the hiring process will be public will prevent him from filling all of those jobs. “Why have I felt strongly about this?” Kasich asked reporters. “Well, let me tell you why. When a person applies for another job, it doesn’t make their current employer happy.” He continued:
“Maybe the people that demand all of this openness ought to think about how they want their kids treated. Do they want their kids to be jeopardized because they’re trying to improve themselves and look for another job?”
Kasich was originally arguing that because an external, non-government organization was keeping the resumes, they did not fall under the . But after talking with his lawyer, Kasich realized that it was a fight he was going to lose and has decided to make the resumes public.
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Wikileaks is, like Sunshine Review, a wiki, which means that it is (generally) open to all to contribute to to make edits. It is an ideal platform for collecting information.
Wikileaks expressly exists “,” which has gotten it much negative attention.
The site had come under fire earlier this year, and has again stirred the pot. .
The Huffington Post mentions that two are security and privacy. It seems uncontroversial to note that controlling information and leaks provides vital advantages in a time of war.
But the question people are asking is: is this transparency? One change in transparency is the internet and social media:
Increasingly, citizens are turning to the Internet for data, policy and services. Alongside the efforts of government webmasters at .gov websites, citizens will find the rich stew of social media, media conglomerates or mashups that use government and private data.
But is transparency the motivation behind the leaks? Derrick Ashong, also at the HuffPo, :
Exposing the cover-up of civilian murders in Iraq is clearly important work. Publishing private emails of diplomats strikes me as… sort of petty.
However, it is only private e-mails at the ground level. A bigger picture view of the information leaked reveals insight into North and South Korea’s potential future, funding of extremist groups by public officials in Eritrea, and several U.S. diplomatic failures. It’s not mere gossip or tidbits; it’s new chapters to the stories.
So the information is valuable. But that leaves us with questions still:
1) Is this government transparency?
2) Do the ends justify the means?
and, most importantly perhaps,
3) What are the implications for the future of the relationships between governments and citizens?
For more on the leaked cables and the insight they offer, see the
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With long-time Chicago Mayor , aspiring mayors are already trying to set themselves apart from other potential candidates.
has decided to focus on transparency. today that aims to make government information and data more available and accessible to Chicagoans. The idea is called”Sunshine Chicago,” and it would use the city’s existing data site as a foundation to establish a central clearinghouse that pulls data from all City of Chicago departments to make it easily accessible. Currently, the City’s existing site only provides data from FOIA requests and does not include responses.
“For far too long, government has not effectively kept people informed about how the city spends its money and the way we make important decisions,” Chico said. He noted that Chicago leased its parking meters for more than $1 billion two years ago, and of that only $76 million is left. “Many Chicagoans want to know – where did all that money go? With this initiative, citizens won’t have to ask.”
By opening up more data to the public, Chico’s initiative would make it easier for web developers, entrepreneurs and citizens to create innovative tools that improve transparency and access at no additional cost to the city.
· Improving access to an unprecedented amount of data;
· Empowering ;
· Providing a responsive outlet for citizen ideas and feedback.
Sunshine Review gives the a B- on website transparency, a decent score. But there is much more to transparency than our checklist, that is merely the start. Hopefully, Chico’s bringing of transparency to the spotlight will get other candidates talking about how to make Chicago more open.
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The TSA is a government agency, the . wrote about this issue—”“—highlight the scandalous nature of recent events regarding the administration’s actions.
A legislature in Florida is calling for airports to , instead encouraging them to choose private contractors for security. One powerful tool in holding the TSA accountable is the Freedom of Information Act. Today in #FOIAchat, our weekly Twitter conference on FOIA issues, we talked about private/public companies and requesting information. One can currently , though because of its relationship to the Department of Homeland Security, it is possible many exemptions apply. If more airports do opt out, it will be interesting to see what the transparency implications will be.
Look for the #FOIAchat archive . And let us know your opinion.
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The superintendent of in North Carolina stated that the .
The school district’s budget advisory committee, which held its first meeting Wednesday, is a good start in engaging citizens. The committee includes administrators, two principals, two teachers, one student, the head of the Durham Association of Educators, two members of the business community and six general community members.
The school is going to use its website a means of communicating with citizens. For guidance, they should use the , which lays out the minimum amount of information that should be available on a government website.
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The Illinois Freedom of Information Act is still on a rocky path.
The has overturned Governor Pat Quinn’s veto on Freedom of Information Act exemptions in the state. Quinn passed an amendatory veto of a bill that effectively exempted the performance evaluations of all public employees; Quinn’s veto would only exempt law enforcement. If the Senate accepts the House’s bill to reverse Quinn’s veto, all employee evaluations will be exempt from disclosure.
Earlier in the year, Quinn actually passed the new Illinois FOIA that had stricter penalties for noncompliance and response times. But , which limited the exemption but also accepted their validity.
Performance evaluations are like the year end reports you and I have to deal with, but more important. Because public employees are paid by tax funds to which all citizens contribute, we all have a right to keep them accountable. Also, the groups of public employees whose reviews are exempt are exactly the employees we have an great interest in as citizens: children spend most of their days with teachers, and interactions with police officers involve a great power disparity. Information can help prevent incompetent officials from staying on the public payroll, like one officer who was .
Hopefully, enough watchdogs will continue to guard the Illinois FOIA so that there are fewer instances of lawmakers chipping away at it.
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Sunshine Review has rated more than 5,000 city, county, and school district website using out Ten Point Transparency Checklist. out of these, a mere 40 have scored a 9 or 10.
There’s clearly a need for some sort of legislation to encourage governments to disclose key information to citizens. That’s why Sunshine Review is proud to introduce the .
In the coming weeks, we will talk to more than 7,000 legislators to ask them to review the legislation and to support it.
What is the Sunshine Standard? You can hear it right from our president .
The Sunshine Standard website includes model legislation for public officials to use as a tool, but also to start making a change in their state and local governments. We hope you’re as excited about this as we are, and that you’ll join us in making your local government more transparent.
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Unlike our interactions with non-public institutions, we can’t just take our money elsewhere when it comes to government, and we can’t just not care–it’s our duty to keep our elected bodies accountable.
This is why lobbying disclosure requirements for public bodies are so important. It is one thing to want to know what private interests are influencing legislation in-state and at Congress. It is quite another to know what specific legislation and programs your money is funding. The latter instance proves a more pressing need for transparency.
Many, if not most, governments attempt to influence legislation by lobbying. But the lobbying registration philosophy in some states is odd. According to the , 44 out of the 50 states have . The reasoning? Lobbying is a “natural” function of public office.
Perhaps it is. Still, lobbying by public entities remains an activity in particular that governments should be open about. Besides the fact that ailing state budgets require voters and officials to scrutinize public spending, the spirit of open government practically demands that legislation being promoted with public funds be known as such. For example, while some governments lobby for more state money, others can be lobbying to weaken state Open Meetings Act, as is .
Only one state takes transparency here seriously. The Minnesota State Auditor summarizing the . The report includes information on contract lobbyists that local entities like cities, counties, and school districts hire, but it goes one step further: it includes membership in taxpayer-funded lobbying associations in the report. These associations are funded by governments, but are generally not subject to the same open records laws that governments are.
Even then, there’s room for improvement: Minnesota does not compile information for local governments that lobby the federal government.
Governments owe it to their citizens to let us know where public funds are being used for lobbying–we should at least be allowed in the discussion. Minnesota may not be perfect, but it’s a start.
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Prosecutors on Thursday filed new charges against Bell City Manager Robert Rizzo. Rizzo is one of eight officials accused of misappropriating $5.5 million of city money to pay their own salaries. Rizzo pulled in $787,637 a year as city manager of , a Los Angeles suburb with a population of about 40,000.
said the court needs to appoint a monitor who can observe the city government’s actions and “give the citizens of Bell transparency.” Brown also subpoenaed testimony from the small city of Vernon, whose officials reportedly raked in similarly high salaries.
Four of Bell’s five city council members made $100,000 a year for their part-time positions. Rizzo and seven other city officials, including former Mayor Oscar Hernandez, face charges several allegations regarding mismanaged funds and conflicts of interest.
Brown called Bell a “city in crisis” and said the appointment of a monitor would help restore transparency and trust in the city government. One council member has resigned, one is still in jail, and two others have been recently released from jail. A Los Angeles grand jury indicted former city manager and utilities director Donal O’Callaghan on three felony counts of conflict of interest and misappropriation of public funds. He made $785,000 last year.
Brown’s attempt to fix the situation shows he’s aware of a problem. But instituting a monitor for Bell after the problem is late, and the important issue to address is how to prevent these things from happening in the first place. What really needs to happen is that puts the locus of openness on the government. Rather than the LA Times having to dig up information on exorbitant salaries after officials waste millions of citizens’ dollars unethically, future Bells can be prevented. For example, the State Comptroller responded to Bell by posting the in the city and county levels.
Sunshine Review on the Bell pay scandal:
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