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Sunshine Week 2006 Online Gallery Eight

Published: July 12, 2006
Last Updated: July 12, 2006

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From secrecy in the courts to report fees, online resources, emergency response plans and how people can effect change, each day during Sunshine Week The Greenville News ran a front-page article on an open government issue involving its community.

In addition to its print coverage, an info box each day explained Sunshine Week and directed readers to the News' Web site for more resources, including how to file a Freedom of Information Act request.

At the end of the week, in addition to its Page One article, the News published a Dimension section front article about the difficulties FOIA faces on its 40th anniversary. Inside the A section, was a full-page of information about how to access government data and info graphics about trends in getting information.

Quoting James Madison on the importance of an informed citizenry in one article about how information can empower people, staff writer Eric Connor noted, "The balance between government secrecy and the public's right to know has been tenuous throughout American history.

"On the front lines of this tug of war are not only the media and the leaders who turn the mirror inward on how they carry out the public's business, but also citizens who make it their responsibility to empower themselves with knowledge," he wrote, adding that "the public ultimately is where the power lies."

To view a PDF of all The Greenville News Sunshine Week coverage, click here. For a PDF of the full-page info charts and graphics, click here.

Lawmakers in Maine got behind Sunshine Week, supporting it with proclamations, resolutions and opinion pieces. The official state Web site also posted information about Sunshine Week on its Freedom of Access Act (FOAA) page, which also sports the Sunshine Week evergreen logo.

Governor John E. Baldacci signed a proclamation declaring March 12-18, 2006 as Sunshine Week: Your Right to Know throughout the state.

The state legislature also recognized Sunshine Week with a joint resolution recognizing the importance of open government and affirming its principles. The motion was made by Sen. Barry J. Hobbins, cosponsored by Rep. Deborah L. Simpson, Sen. Margaret R. Rotundo and Rep. Theodore S. Koffman.

In a guest column published in the Lewiston Sun-Journal, Gov. Baldacci cited the accessibility of government and citizens' opportunity to serve in the legislature as among the things that make the state a great place to live.

"Recently, I have instructed my senior staff to review the act and to ensure that all executive branch employees fully understand the letter and the spirit of the [FOAA]," Baldacci wrote. "We are now in the process of preparing video online training for all employees....

"In order that the training be most useful and meaningful, my staff is establishing best practices for record management. Additionally, we are bringing state document retention policies into the digital age," he explained.

"By establishing a consistent and efficient record management and retention policy that encompasses e-mail and other electronic data, a wellspring of good will emerge. First, easy document retrieval makes for more efficient provision of services by state government. Second, rapid retrieval allows for rapid response to requests for documents by the public. Lastly, a consistent management and retention policy will facilitate the preservation of historic or archival documents as determined by the state archivist."

The Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch focused its fourth Public Square forum on "Your Right to Know: Keeping Government Open" during Sunshine Week 2006. The event, held at a local college and moderated by Times-Dispatch President and Publisher Thomas A. Silvestri (left), complemented the paper's print and online coverage.

During the week prior to the event, the Times-Dispatch not only promoted it, offering details for attending and inviting people to tell their own FOIA stories, but it also put forth a series of discussion questions for the public to consider in advance.

Among those attending the forum was Brenda Stewart (right), a retired procurement analyst for the U.S. Department of Defense, who used FOIA to find out that the Chesterfield County administrator had spent more than $18,000 in public money to charter a jet to Kansas the day before New Year's Eve. The administrator repaid the county.

Stewart was given a standing ovation by the more than 90 people at the Public Square.

"I would challenge those who are the leaders of Chesterfield County and say that, 'No, you do not have the open government that our citizens want to see,'" Stewart said, according to a coverage of the forum by the Times-Dispatch.

Others at the forum included Chesterfield Supervisor Arthur S. Warren, who is pictured below responding to a question from resident Alan Brasili.

In addition to its news report, audio and video coverage of the Public Square can be accessed via the Times-Dispatch Web site.

In his blog entry about the Public Square, Silvestri said comments afterward called the forum informative and meaningful, and there was a suggestion that, "We need more of these."

In addition to the forum, the Times-Dispatch published several editorials, opinion columns from guest writers including Frosty Landon of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government and Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.), and news articles about how residents have used FOIA and how readers can access resources via the Web. Links to the coverage are on the Times-Dispatch Web site.

"Openness is vital in a nation where government is supposed to be by the people, for the people and of the people. But far too often, the people cannot see the information their government leaders hide. Leaders find all sorts of reasons to keep information under wraps, but invariably it is because it will make officials look bad."

So read an editorial in The Journal Gazette of Fort Wayne, kicking off the paper's Sunshine Week coverage.

The Journal Gazette's main Sunshine Week feature, "Records Access Applies to All," examined the difficulty prisoners have in getting public information. Government agencies are in violation of Indiana's open records law in about 30 percent of the cases filed with the state public access rights counselor by inmates who've been denied information, the paper reported. In some cases, agencies ignore the requests entirely.

Though some of the inmates' requests are relatively benign, there are concerns that some of them may be using the law to get information about corrections officers, victims and/or their relatives, and other potentially troubling areas. Others can be habitual filers; some file complains the same day as their initial requests.

The Journal Gazette partnered its print reporting with a strong Open Records page on its Web site.

In addition to linking to its news reporting, The Journal Gazette directed readers to state and federal resources, documents such as a handbook on the state's Public Access Laws and a sample request letter.

Stories, with links, to reporting previously done using public records also were featured online. Topics included fire crew response times, officials' salary reviews, the state of Indiana's dams, the relationship between city vendor contracts and political donations, chemical plant safety and bus drivers' records.

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