2/07/2004
Photocopies for the people!
Twenty-nine, count them, 29 newspapers (including my own, beloved News-Journal) tested local compliance with public record laws and encountered stonewalling, and outright hostility. Only 57 percent of government agency tested complied.
Example:
Roger Desjarlais, the Broward County administrator, threatened a volunteer by saying, "I can make your life very difficult."
After insisting that the volunteer give his name, Desjarlais used the Internet to identify the volunteer, find his cell phone number and call him after work hours.
In an interview after the audit, Desjarlais denied that he threatened or tried to intimidate the volunteer, who is a reporter with SNN-Channel 6 in Sarasota.
Letting people in on what their government is doing isn't just a good idea, it's the law.
For a very complete rundown of stories relating to this project -- or anything about public records -- see Joe Adam's outstanding I Dig Answers site
Example:
Roger Desjarlais, the Broward County administrator, threatened a volunteer by saying, "I can make your life very difficult."
After insisting that the volunteer give his name, Desjarlais used the Internet to identify the volunteer, find his cell phone number and call him after work hours.
In an interview after the audit, Desjarlais denied that he threatened or tried to intimidate the volunteer, who is a reporter with SNN-Channel 6 in Sarasota.
Letting people in on what their government is doing isn't just a good idea, it's the law.
For a very complete rundown of stories relating to this project -- or anything about public records -- see Joe Adam's outstanding I Dig Answers site
