If you’ve been denied records or data from a government agency on flimsy grounds, request to find out if the agency sells the same data to commercial users for profit. That’s what The Oklahoman and Tulsa World did (see story). They requested a database of state employees, including date of birth and salaries, to identify [...]
Filed under: 6. Overcoming denials | Tagged: Local gov | Leave a Comment »
The Asbury Park Press posted on its Web site a great searchable database of federal employees and their 2008 salaries. The form allows you to search by name, agency, title or location. You can also click on the column headers (name, agency, title, salary, state, county, etc.,) to have the lists sorted in order. I [...]
Filed under: 1. Records that matter | Tagged: Local gov | Leave a Comment »
For Sunshine Week the American Society of News Editors honored citizen FOI warriors for their efforts to open up their governments. Check out the bios and you’ll see that they are active citizens from Florida, New Jersey and Virginia who saw problems in their local governments and wanted answers. This is what open records are [...]
Filed under: 1. Records that matter | Tagged: Local gov | Leave a Comment »
Kid gets into fight in middle school right here in Columbia, Mo. Mom asks whether there is a surveillance camera. School says “yes, but you can’t watch it…” and a Sunshine scrap ensues. Why can’t she see it?
Filed under: 1. Records that matter | Tagged: Education, Local gov | Leave a Comment »
State officials around the country are trying to figure out how to handle public officials’ discussions via Twitter, Facebook, texting and other electronic devices. If officials are discussing public business then those messages are public records. Check with your government jurisdictions to find out whether they are recording Blackberry messages and other electronic communications. If [...]
Filed under: 4. Finding records, 5. Request strategies, 7. Electronic records | Tagged: Local gov | Leave a Comment »
A requester in Maryland asked for a list of county employees with their salaries in an electronic format. Pretty simple. But the county responded saying it would charge $40 per hour for 52 hours of programming, or $2,000 (first two hours are free). That’s crazy! When this was posted on the FOI-listserv today many people [...]
Filed under: 6. Overcoming denials, 7. Electronic records | Tagged: Local gov | 1 Comment »
The Investigative Reporting Program at UC Berkeley used DUI checkpoint data to discover police and tow-truck companies raking in millions of dollars in seized vehicles from illegal immigrants, according to a Feb. 13 report. Reporter Ryan Gabrielson analyzed checkpoint data, car seizure records, census data and other documents to find law enforcement making big bucks [...]
Filed under: 1. Records that matter, 7. Electronic records | Tagged: Local gov, Public safety | 1 Comment »
