They just don’t seem to get it. Or maybe they do and just don’t care. We’re talking about executive sessions. But until somebody decides to challenge them legally, boards will continue to deceive the people they serve. This time, the flagrant offender is the Ilion Village Board. Prior to its legally announced March 11 regular […]
Read More… from Observer Dispatch OUR VIEW: Public officials must be held accountable
Gov. Kim Reynolds’ administration has denied some requests for information about Iowa’s preparedness and response to the novel coronavirus by citing a broad exemption in the state’s public records law. Two Iowa agencies have denied Des Moines Register requests this month seeking documentation of the state’s pandemic response plan and daily reports regarding the state’s response to the virus and COVID-19, […]
Read More… from Iowa is denying the public access to some records of its COVID-19 response
Communities across the country are finding themselves in a bind as they try to pass urgent legislation to combat the coronavirus pandemic at the same time public meetings are impossible. Open-government advocates say many city councils, school boards and other governing bodies are failing at the task, holding meetings that are inaccessible to the public, rushing actions […]
Read More… from Local Governments Are Hard to Find as Coronavirus Ends Public Meetings
States and cities across the country are cutting off access to open records and canceling in-person meetings, starving the public — not to mention lobbyists and other influence-brokers — of information as the coronavirus outbreak reaches into all corners of civic life. The public access shutdown comes just as local officials make unprecedented decisions about […]
Read More… from Coronavirus clampdown: The virus casts a shroud over American civic life
WEST MICHIGAN — Public meetings — and public access to those meetings — look a little bit different in the middle of the global COVID-19 pandemic. In the greater Holland area, township trustees are reciting the Pledge of Allegiance together over the phone and logging on to video calls to take votes on water utility […]
Read More… from COVID-19 alters government transparency rules
Students at the University of Florida who want to know how they are being protected from the COVID-19 pandemic can’t find out. The university is hiding its emergency response plan under a legal loophole intended to keep terrorists and enemy combatants—not viruses—from exploiting government weaknesses. Since the spread of coronavirus accelerated in recent weeks, local, state and […]
Read More… from Government Secrecy is Growing During the Coronavirus Pandemic
In 2019, according to the Center for State and Local Government Excellence, only about 19% of local governments had any kind of telework arrangements in place and fewer than half the states did. Even in states that had some telework capacity, only a handful provided that option for more than a modest portion of employees. […]
Read More… from Lessons from States that Embraced Telework Before the Coronavirus
To further facilitate the social distancing and stay-at-home orders put in place in the past two weeks, Gov. Jay Inslee suspended several parts of the state’s government transparency laws this week. The order, which is in effect until April 24, temporarily waives certain requirements of Washington’s Open Public Meeting and Public Records acts. Public meetings […]
Read More… from Washington Governor Inslee relaxes open government laws
Citing unprecedented challenges created by the coronavirus pandemic, city officials across California are asking Gov. Gavin Newsom to suspend or delay numerous state laws, saying they’re unable to comply with everything from environmental regulations to public records laws that give people a window into how the government is spending public money. Noting that city resources […]
Read More… from California cities want transparency rules waived in pandemic
More than 150 organizations have signed a statement to state, tribal and local public institutions voicing concerns about transparency and access to meetings and records as these institutions respond to the Coronavirus emergency and continue their administrative deliberations. Organizations representing diverse constituencies and political ideologies have joined together to advise these governing bodies that real time […]
Read More… from 150 Organizations Sign Statement on Government Coronavirus Emergency Transparency
