Secretary of State William F. Galvinís office has long been the referee that journalists and citizens rely on when government agencies refuse to release records ranging from crime reports to internal audits. But time and time again, records show, his office has kept government information secret instead of making it public.
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Read More… from Secretary of State regularly keeps government records secret
Boston City Councilor Michelle Wu filed an ordinance aimed at providing greater transparency on municipal data. Right now, Boston has an open data portal, but the data on that site only shows information obtained through Freedom of Information Act obligations. The new ordinance would resemble other open data policies in cities nationwide, by disclosing datasets without first requiring a FOIA request.
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Read More… from Boston City Councilor Wants Real Open Data For The City
The Massachusetts Newspaper Publishers Association and its leader, Robert Ambrogi, deserve our thanks for their fight to open more of our state and local government to public inspection ("Guest View: A ray of hope for the Public Records Law," March 18). Government works best when it's most transparent. I have been proud to have joined Bob and the MNPA, Common Cause, MASSPIRG and others in that fight. While we have won several important victories, there remains much to accomplish.
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Read More… from Guest View: Technology, the key to transparency in government
Massachusetts takes pride in liberal politics and technological prowess. But when it comes to government transparency and using technology to connect citizens with government, Beacon Hill has nothing to be proud of.
The state has had terrible difficulty getting its new Heath Care Connector website working, despite years of experience operating an online health insurance exchange, but that’s a topic for another day.
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Read More… from Our View: Flunking the open legislature test
From Telegram: STURBRIDGE — Selectmen in April violated the state’s Open Meeting Law when they met in an executive session and eliminated a position in the Fire Department.
Hanne Rush, assistant attorney general in the Division of Open Government in the office of Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, ruled that the board’s decision to discuss and then vote to eliminate an assistant to the fire chief position was illegal.
Visit Telegram for more.
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Read More… from Sturbridge selectmen found in violation of Open Meeting Law
From Patriot Ledger: BOSTON — News media representatives lobbied a legislative committee Tuesday, hoping to relegate to history the current, often slow and expensive process of obtaining official government records.
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From Boston Magazine
Hot on the heels of “Sunshine Week,” when MassPIRG celebrated the Patrick Administration’s commitment to transparency, we thought we’d collect some best practices in transparency we’ve learned over the years from the Administration.
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Read More… from The Patrick Administration’s Guide to the Public Records Law
From Xconomy:
Sometime this November, MIT will put its 1800th course on line, completing the implementation phase of its OpenCourseWare initiative and essentially making the school’s entire curriculum available worldwide. But the woman who orchestrated this trailblazing effort won’t be there to see the milestone event.
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Read More… from Massachusetts’s new CIO hopes to open government bureaucracy to public
