transparency – Page 4 – National Freedom of Information Coalition

Anchorage adopts open data policy

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The Municipality of Anchorage has adopted an open data policy, to boost transparency through heightened community access to government information and data.

Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz explained, “Open data is really an important way of making sure information that the city collects, is available to everyone who lives here, and anyone who want to use it. It’s about having a transparent and efficient form of government.” Five initial areas will be focused on including housing, public health, public safety, finance and transportation.

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Editorial: Ohio open records bill is a winner

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An open government is a more honest and efficient government. But Ohioans often face unnecessary delays and obstacles when they ask for records that document what government is up to — either because public officials don’t know open-records laws, misinterpret them or purposely stall to cover up misdeeds.

Unless a citizen has tens of thousands of dollars and years to spend on a court lawsuit, he’s out of luck. Crooked or obstinate government officials know this, and use it to exploit the law.

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Opinion: We must not allow government secrecy in Rhode Island

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Rhode Island was the 49th state in the country to enact an open records law, and that reluctant show of support for government transparency still demonstrates itself in numerous ways.

Regrettably, when even the courts fail to vigorously enforce that law, the public’s right to know is bound to suffer significantly. The Rhode Island Supreme Court’s recent decision in the Caleb Chafee case highlights that.

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Lessons in transparency from Flint, Michigan

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State and local leaders have been stunned by the fiasco in Flint, Michigan, where city officials switched the water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River in order to save money.

That hasty change caused older pipes to leach dangerous levels of lead that contaminated the local drinking water supply.

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Unrecorded votes dominate bill deaths in Virginia House

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Nearly 95 percent of bills defeated in the Virginia House of Delegates this session went down without a recorded vote, according to a new analysis from the coalition Transparency Virginia.

That means the bills were killed for the year – through one of several procedural motions – without clerks taking note of who voted one way or another.

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Editorial: California special interests seek to limit right to know

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Legislators give lip service to the public’s right to know about government operations. But too often, for the right special interest, they will limit access to information.

Right now, two bills addressing this tendency are pending, one involving an entrenched special interest, the other a shiny new one.

One should pass. The other, not so much. Continue…

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What is shadow lobbying? How influence peddlers shape policy in the dark

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Sunlight Foundation: Earlier this year, we asked you to help us find out which Democratic superdelegates are also lobbyists. We didn’t want to limit it to just registered lobbyists, because there’s an increasing number of people in Washington who do what most of us would think of as lobbying activity, but avoid registering — known as “shadow lobbyists.”

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Editorial: Alabama Governor ran on ‘transparency’ but now demands silence

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Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley rolled into office on the promise of "transparency."

"Transparency promotes government accountability, and as elected officials, we are held accountable for our decisions by the people we serve," he said. It was like his motto.

Alabama "deserves transparency in everything we do." Yep.

''If you have things to hide, then maybe you're doing things wrong."

''I think you ought to be willing to release everything to the American people.'' '

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Editorial: Supreme privacy in Rhode Island

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A healthy system of self-government — something Rhode Island, unfortunately, lacks — depends on public access to information about the activities of those who hold power in the people’s name.

This is something the public must insist on, because when politicians get to decide whether privacy or disclosure should take precedence, it is a safe bet the politicians will come down against the public.

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Editorial: Open meetings, secret meetings in Alabama

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Each exception made to Alabama’s open-meetings laws leaves the door open for another. The best option are open-meetings laws that ensure public bodies operate fully in the open.

If Sen. Gerald Dial’s proposed amendment this spring becomes law, Alabama’s universities and colleges would be able to discuss hiring top-level positions without the public’s knowledge because trustee boards could meet in secret.

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