ACLU to Denver mayor: Open up on DNC details
8 July, 2008
Don’t you love those old “knock knock” jokes? My new favorite goes something like this:
Knock. Knock.
Who’s there?
It’s the ACLU. Open up, or we’ll sue you for the fourth time.
Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper apparently hasn’t gotten the joke yet, as the ACLU continues to sue the city over a lack of transparency regarding details of the DNC 2008 convention.
From the Denver Post:
It is Hickenlooper — himself a longtime contributor to the ACLU — who time and again has touted his record as a civil-rights advocate and champion of government transparency.
Yet his city won’t say what it’s buying with $50 million in convention security money. And it wouldn’t, until sued, release information as basic as the policies of its jail.
Here’s news to you, Mr. Mayor: You’re not the only one who’s disappointed, sorely.
“There’s a big secrecy thing surrounding this convention,” says ACLU of Colorado legal director Mark Silverstein. “We disagree about whether the city so far has lived up to its commitments about civil-liberties concerns.”
The group has sued the city three times in two months and has no plans of backing down, regardless of Hickenlooper’s bruised feelings.
In fact, City Hall soon should expect further lawsuits, this time filed by four ACLU clients whom the city wrongly jailed for up to three weeks because of mistaken identity. The city has declined to take responsibility for the screw-ups, and court cases may be the only way to prompt new jail policies in time for what likely will be intensely publicized arrests during the convention.
Mayor Hickenlooper, please do taxpayers everywhere a favor and open up. If you have nothing to hide, no one gets hurt, plus the ACLU will stop knocking at your door… for a little while.
Does gov’t transparency trump personal privacy?
7 July, 2008
Brian Perry with the Madison County Journal (Mississippi) had an interesting article last week that asked the question: Is government transparency a violation of a government employee’s right to privacy?
Perry shares his inner conflict:
My libertarian streak opposes government secrecy, but advocates personal privacy. So where do we draw the line between individual privacy (including government employees) and the public’s right to know?
One extreme says there is no line. Government time; government computer; government e-mail means an employee paid by the taxpayers of Mississippi should expect no privacy in their e-mail or communications and all are subject to an open records request.
Another extreme says there is a privacy wall. Government employees presume their e-mails are private communications and they should not be subject to review from their colleagues, their bosses, the press, or any other Big Brother.
I guess you could call me an extremist advocate for the public’s right to know what public servants are doing on our dime. (shocked, aren’t you?) If government employees are worried about FOIA-filers seeing their jokes and family updates, maybe they should just wait until they get home to send personal messages.
Truth is, the people filing FOIAs likely aren’t looking for personal garbage and won’t care much about it. They are looking for government duplicity, waste, corruption, and information not able to be obtained otherwise. Citizen activists are few and far between, and serve the public by acting as (often unpaid) government watchdogs. Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt that they can impersonally sift through the recipes and chain letters to get to the meat of government practices.
A little somethin’ for everyone
24 June, 2008
BureaucracyBlog had a great post today on why transparency is needed for all of the political spectrum. Here’s a taste:
People have grown disgusted with wasteful pork-barrel spending and plain inefficiency. We must eliminate the secrecy that surrounds government spending. Let the people see how government is spending their money and then you will see responsibility return to government. Whether you believe in less government or believe that more money should be directed toward education and social services, we can all agree that reducing wasteful government spending is in everyone’s best interests.
Most of this information is publicly available, accessible by state employees, but the public can get this information only by sending an open records request, waiting for someone to rummage through file cabinets or computer files and then either pay them to copy the material or travel yourself to Frankfort to view it.
This issue transcends the traditional gulf between liberals and conservatives.
Go read the rest here. Bravo! Let’s keep on keepin’ on with the bi-partisan battle for transparency.
OH: Taking transparency personally
24 June, 2008
Personal responsibility transparency. Catchy, eh? Phil Kidd, Downtown Director of Events and Special Projects for the city of Youngstown, OH, has taken matters into his own bloggy hands and has been tracking his taxpayer-paid time online here.
I hope this spurs a movement for more transparency from individual government employees and agencies. More transparency, less corruption. Thanks for setting the example, Mr. Kidd.
Another leader in Ohio’s transparency movement: The Buckeye Institute
H/T: Progress Pittsburgh
LA legislators: Loving their no-bid contracts
24 June, 2008
The Louisiana legislature hit the brakes on their forward momentum on transparency this week in voting to allow State Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek distribute no-bid educational consultant contracts. With overwhelming majorities from the House (9-25) and Senate (37-0), the bill now goes to Governor Jindal’s desk. From the AP:
Under current law, educational consultants whose services top a $50,000 price tag must be hired through a competitive bidding process. Pastorek wanted educational consultants hired by the Department of Education added to a list of “professional services” - like doctors, engineers and accountants - for which contracts can be awarded without competitive bidding.
Lawmakers worked on several versions of the language, finally settling on a measure (House Bill 891) that would give Pastorek the authority to skip the bid process for contracts up to $250,000 and only for one budget year. The consultants must hold doctorate degrees in education.
Competitive bidding not only gives the bidding process transparency, but also encourages public scrutiny on bidders and ensures taxpayers receive the best price on state services.
Weekend Round-up
23 June, 2008
Here’s my transparency weekend round-up:
Connecticut: The bill I mentioned here became law last week with Gov. Jodi Rell’s signature on the steps of the Capitol, where she took her oath of office. The legislation allowing a judge to reduce or revoke the pension of a corrupt public official will go into effect October 1. More from Newsday.com.
Ohio: The Buckeye Institute released a podcast with Americans for Prosperity’s Jack Boyle that discusses transparency and fiscal restraint.
Pennsylvania: Legislation advanced in the Senate to require all taxpayer-funded advertising to include the dislaimer “Paid for with Pennsylvania taxpayer dollars.” Read more here.
Louisiana: Indicted Congressman William Jefferson defies ethics advocates by running for re-election.
Hope you’re looking forward to another great week of transparency reporting.
This scandal is getting scant attention by the mainstream media but it appears that Chairman of the US Senate Budget Committee U.S. Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND) got a sweetheart deal from the mortgage firm Countrywide. This scandal comes as a blow to Conrad who has always campaigned on his ethics and honesty. I guess Kent Conrad is just like every other Washington politician!
According to news reports Conrad, appears to have changed his story numerous times about his ties to the CEO of Countrywide and the kickbacks he received on his mortgage.
Fellow Democrats Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Chris Dodd (D-CT) are caught up in the same scandal.
North Dakota’s finest political blog, sayanythingblog, has been on top of this scandal since it broke. I encourage you to read each of these posts and become informed.
The Case for Kent Conrad’s Resignation
Conrad Doesn’t Even Beleive His Own Story About How He Got His Mortgage
Kent Conrad Friend of Angelo
Kent Conrad Changes His Story on the Mortgage Scandal AGAIN
Did Kent Conrad’s VIP Loan Violate Senate Ethics Rules?
Senators as Confused, Victimized Borrowers?
Kent Conrad’s Countrywide Mortgage Deceptions Making National News
More on Kent Conrad’s VIP Loan from Countrywide Mortgage CEO Angelo Mozilo
Kent Conrad Lies About Never having Met Angelo Mozilo
Kent Conrad Benefits from Unethical “Sweatheart” Loan Deal From Subprime Lender
The story has gotten some attention on Fox News. This clip is courtesy of sevenload.com
Link: sevenload.com
This just proves that you do not need to be from a big state to have politicians with ethical lapses in judgment.
AZ Government Employee fired for Misuse of Resources
18 June, 2008
This should be a lesson to every government employee that wants to use government resources for partisan politics.
Cross posted from Sonoran Alliance
Maricopa County Spokesman, Al Macias, has lost his job after being discovered of using his work computer to conduct personal business. According to the Arizona Republic, Macias, “violated ethics policies by ‘disclosing potentially negative information’ about Brock to his District 1 political opponent, Ed Hermes.”
Macias was also discovered of using his County computer to surf the internet, shop for personal items and for sending emails to local television stations containing, ”potentially negative information about Sheriff Joe Arpaio.”
Macias responded to his termination with the following letter which addresses the charges against him.
Al Macias was on the County payroll at $90,000/year.
Lesson learned - Do not use taxpayer funded resources for partisan purposes!
I (heart) NY Transparency
17 June, 2008
I love New York: The fashion, the buildings, the pizza (though I am more partial to Chicago-style), the abundant art and musical talent, and… the budding transparency revolution.
The Hudson Valley Press Online reports on transparency legislation proposed by NY Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli and Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi. If signed into law, the 6,900+ special districts (towns split into special districts to deliver utility services and parks to certain areas) would be required to be more open to taxpayers.
The legislation:
* Establishes a uniform date for public hearings conducted by the board of commissioners on district budget estimates before these budgets are submitted to the town;
* Requires that budget estimates, annual financial reports, public notices and audit reports are posted on the websites of both the district and of the town in which the district is located; and
* Requires adequate notice to the public for annual budget hearings including the time, date, location, purpose of the hearing and the availability of an estimate of the proposed expenditures and revenues.
I also spotted our friends at Americans for Tax Reform highlighting this article from Eric Singer at the New York Sun. Singer calls upon NY political leadership to take open government seriously by opening the checkbooks to taxpayers. The best part:
Seeking to establish credibility in his new role, … [G]overnor [Paterson] has created working groups to find budget cuts and he has launched a statewide economic development fund. He should also immediately take the next step towards transparency and move to put the entire state check register on line for the public to study. I am sure we would learn a lot. Speaker Silver and State Senator Bruno should welcome this change, and ratify it in the Assembly and the Senate — although this can be done just by Executive Order in the same way PEG and Project Sunshine were started.
Mr. Bloomberg is an information age entrepreneur who has made billions of dollars in the private economy by getting timely information at the speed of light to Wall Street. I cannot think of anyone more qualified to bring this revolution to New York City, thereby leaving his personal stamp on the bureaucratic behemoth New York City has become.
Well said, Mr. Singer.
Fraud-ridden LA voter drive investigated
13 June, 2008
About a week ago, I posted about a Dem voter registration drive in Louisiana that had some major credibility issues. Enough red flags were raised that a few people are checking into the validity of the registrations, and the group behind the drive.
The Advocate reported Secretary of State Jay Dardenne was scheduled to meet with VIP, the group responsible for numerous faulty registrations, last Tuesday. It also described the state of the registrations:
Dardenne said cards are being submitted for people already on the voter rolls and “a significant percentage are being submitted without necessary information to register someone and “blatantly false information.
Two cards received in Caddo Parish had George W. Bush as the voter applicant with a 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. address in Shreveport, Dardenne said. Other cards have been filed for prisoners who cannot vote and dead people. In Jefferson Parish, a voter registration card was filed for the registrar of voters.
“We want to safeguard the integrity of the process by making sure any group seeking to register Louisiana voters provide specific information and it’s not bogging down registrars offices with work premised on false information,” Dardenne said.
Little Green Footballs blogs on VIP’s Muslim Society ties. You can gather more information about VIP from their website.
Something stinks in Louisiana, and it’s not the week-old gumbo…
