Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg once called the New York Police Department “the seventh biggest army in the world”. Whether or not that stat is true, there’s no doubt the NYPD is a large and powerful organisation – and, as current mayor Bill de Blasio learned last year, it does not always take criticism well.
[…]
Read More… from How an open data blogger proved the NYPD issued parking tickets in error
A yearslong push in San Diego to include city workers’ use of private devices for government business under the state’s public records law just hit another major snag, frustrating open government advocates and city lawmakers.
[…]
Today we are releasing a report on the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) program at the United States Secret Service (USSS), the fifth in our series of assessments of FOIA programs at components of the Department of Homeland Security. Like other OGIS reports on agency FOIA program assessments, the report includes findings and recommendations about the USSS FOIA Program.
[…]
Read More… from OGIS Releases Assessment of Secret Service FOIA Program
The New England First Amendment Coalition urged the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention today to reconsider proposed policy changes that would severely curtail the right of Maine residents to know the location of disease outbreaks in their communities.
[…]
Read More… from NEFAC Cautions Maine CDC on Dangers of Proposed Health Data Disclosure Restrictions
Just days after threat of legal action by The Schilling Show and attorney, Matt Hardin, Charlottesville City Hall has released an un-redacted copy of attorney Tom Wolf’s contract. Wolf has been retained by the city to confiscate property belonging to Mark Brown and the Charlottesville Parking Center through an attempted manipulation of eminent domain.
[…]
Read More… from Roll Over: Charlottesville Reluctantly Reveals Attorney Wolf’s Hourly Rate
The Chief FOIA Officers Council, charged with addressing the most important difficulties in administering FOIA across government, met for the first time July 22 to begin the process of implementing a “release to one is a release to all” standard for federal records.
The policy would make agencies release FOIA-processed records to one requester and simultaneously to the general public by posting them online. Continue…
[…]
Read More… from Chief FOIA Officers Council meets for the first time
The Tennessee Press Association has awarded three members of the state General Assembly its 2016 Open Government Award for their support of government transparency.
[…]
Since the federal Freedom of Information Act was enacted in 1966, transparency has become even more of a hot-button issue across the public sector. All 50 states and many local governments now have their own FOIA laws as well. But while these mandates for transparency enjoy broad support, agencies at all levels of government have limped along in their attempts to abide by them.
[…]
Clark County Councilor David Madore‘s preferred form of communication with constituents — his often controversial Facebook page — has raised questions about the county’s handling of public records.
[…]
Read More… from Washington: Madore’s Facebook page raises questions
Analysis of the 2015 data on over 70 D.C. agencies’ responses to requests for public records under the D.C. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) shows troubling trends, according to a new report just released.
In handling about 6,200 new requests, compared to the prior year D.C. agencies granted fewer, rejected more, took longer doing so, and were more often wrong. Continue…
—————————
[…]
