2/08/2004
Public records are supposed to be, you know, public
The News-Journal gets the run-around and mild attempts at intimidation when it makes standard public records requests as part of a statewide project.
But, hey, in Sarasota they threatened to arrest a volunteer. (Deep in the story.)
Another volunteer, who is a Herald-Tribune reporter, was almost arrested after he politely declined to sign in at the front desk at the Charlotte County school district. Instead, he asked to remain anonymous and have the records delivered to the lobby.
While Chuck Richards, Charlotte schools' manager of employee relations, was looking into the request, district security called sheriff's deputies to report a suspicious person.
"He was being very mysterious, and it was causing anxiety among the staff," Richards told the Herald-Tribune. "He was not acting in a physically imposing way, but there was an attitude. It was his unwillingness to follow our process."
Richards said he wasn't aware that the public records law did not require that a name be given.
See a roundup of stories at the Florida Sunshine review over at idiganswers.com.
But, hey, in Sarasota they threatened to arrest a volunteer. (Deep in the story.)
Another volunteer, who is a Herald-Tribune reporter, was almost arrested after he politely declined to sign in at the front desk at the Charlotte County school district. Instead, he asked to remain anonymous and have the records delivered to the lobby.
While Chuck Richards, Charlotte schools' manager of employee relations, was looking into the request, district security called sheriff's deputies to report a suspicious person.
"He was being very mysterious, and it was causing anxiety among the staff," Richards told the Herald-Tribune. "He was not acting in a physically imposing way, but there was an attitude. It was his unwillingness to follow our process."
Richards said he wasn't aware that the public records law did not require that a name be given.
See a roundup of stories at the Florida Sunshine review over at idiganswers.com.
