Making Government Transparent and Accountable
The Sunlight Foundation uses cutting-edge technology and ideas to make government transparent and accountable. Underlying all of our efforts is a fundamental belief that increased transparency will improve the public's confidence in government
The Sunlight Foundation Blog
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State Agency: ‘We Lost Our Federal Subpoena’
Before coming to D.C., I wrote for a family-owned newspaper in New Mexico. There, I saw first-hand how closed government can impact a population. I still try to keep up with what’s happening back in New Mexico, and a recent story there caught my eye. The director of the State Investment Council resigned in October pending a federal investigation into a pay-to-play scandal. The scandal itself is intriguing, but I’m more interested in how the Investment Council lost a federal subpoena:
Problem is, the subpoena and questionnaire referred to in the letter weren’t included in the package of documents released to the media. Asked about that, spokesman Charles Wollmann said the SIC believes the documents are public records, but it can’t locate them.
“You have everything that we have. It’s not that we’re trying to hide anything,” he said.
More than likely, he’s telling the truth, and there’s nothing nefarious at foot. But what would happen to you if you lost a subpoena from the Securities and Exchange Commission? It’s a curious disconnect between what we require of our government and what the government requires of us.
Sarah Welsh, the director of New Mexico’s Foundation for Open Government said, “in order for the public to access public records, agencies have to hang on to them.” There are pretty clear federal guidelines governing the preservation of records. The states have a system too, but that’s where the problem begins: the system is similar, but not uniform, across the states. That makes it difficult for an organization like ours to focus our efforts on state governments.
My colleague Nisha is on the front lines, so to speak, tracking down examples of local transparency stories, news and challenges with her weekly Local Sunlight series. Paul also has the issue on his radar, and over on OpenCongress we’re working to make it easier for users in one state to connect with their fellow residents.
In 2010, however, the Sunlight Foundation will be making more of a push into state government, a welcome move that I greet with enthusiasm. Simply put, the local issues do matter, and while we’ve always known that, I’m glad we’re able to step up and try to make a real difference there too.
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The House and Senate’s Public — But Not Online — Documents
Over the last month, Sunlight has examined the document collections of the Office of the House Clerk and Office of the Secretary of the Senate to find out what they have. There seems to be an even split between public documents that are available online and those which you have to visit their office to read – or are not publicly available at all. Here is our list of House and Senate documents, which contain summaries of what we found.
The Senate makes available a handy report listing all of their public documents, but you have to goto their public record’s office to obtain a copy. (We’ve uploaded the 2009 version.) The House doesn’t have an equivalent report, although they do make available a bookmark listing some of their resources. Both offices charge a per-page printing/copying fee ($0.10/page for the House and $0.20/page for the Senate). Neither office lets users make copies of their electronic files, whether in whole or in part, even though many files are available in electronic format on dedicated computers in their offices. (Continue reading…)
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Sunlight in the Garden State
Here’s a politician — New Jersey Assemblyman Jim Whelan – who appears to understand the value of transparency. He recently introduced a bill in the New Jersey state legislature that would require the online disclosure of public records local New Jersey towns, school districts and state agencies.
One day — maybe one day soon — democracy in New Jersey might look something like this:
Anyone with an Internet connection goes to his hometown Web site and (click) views the police report on the burglary that happened down the street.
And then (click) scans health-inspection reports for favorite supermarkets and restaurants.
And then (click) finds the municipal budget, and (click) sees who in the neighborhood wants to build a McMansion and (click) even learns how much town employees make.
We love it! It’s a common sense approach to governance whether at the local or federal level. Whelan’s bill analogy on the federal level would databases on federal government spending, or toxic release inventories, or violations by government contractors. Or….well, you can make the list yourself. (And when you do, let us know.) Citizens want to actively participate in political processes and expect to be able to find information on the Web – why shouldn’t that include access to health inspections of local restaurants, state budgets and government contracts?
According to Steven Clift, whose work I hugely admire,
Transparency is a gateway to public trust. Legislators are wise to catch up.
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Peeling Back the Secrets
Ironies abounded in Indianapolis last Friday, when the 2006 Freedom of Information Summit got underway just as Vice President Dick Cheney – perhaps the most secretive vice president in American history – was addressing a GOP fundraiser a couple of buildings away. Cheney’s motorcade had blocked downtown streets and the freeway to the airport, and those at the FOI conference would also argue he has blocked access to a lot more than roadways in the years he’s been a heartbeat away from the presidency.
But aside from a joke or two about the coincidence, the conference attendees – nearly 200 journalists, activists, public officials, and just plain citizens – spent the next two days sharpening their skills in fighting for the public’s right to know what the government is up to. What they were talking about here was not uncovering the kind of state secrets the CIA collects, but making sure that officials deliver the documents that are supposed to be public, under federal, state or local freedom of information laws.
“This is not a time for timidity,” noted opening speaker Charles Lewis, founder of the non-profit Center for Public Integrity, which has long been one of the leading independent centers of investigative reporting in Washington. This crowd knew that all too well.
The federal Freedom of Information Act was passed in 1966 and similar laws exist in every state. But laws on the books don’t always translate into actions on the ground, especially when curious citizens show up at government offices asking for documents like the salary or expense logs of the local school superintendent.
Suspecting that was the case, a group of seven newspapers in Indiana teamed up in 1998 to do a statewide audit of how well local governments were doing in meeting their public obligations. They sent a small army of reporters to government offices in all 92 Indiana counties, asking for five different documents that are supposed to be public. What they found was not reassuring. Many offices, especially in law enforcement, failed to comply with the state’s own laws. All seven newspapers splashed the results of the audit on the front page of all their papers on the same Sunday.
The reaction was quick and effective. The governor appointed a commission to address the problems. Both the governor and the legislature held hearings. A new office of Public Access Counselor was created and now assists citizens who feel they’ve been denied access to records they’re entitled to see.
In the process, a template was created for repeating this exercise elsewhere. Since that first effort, similar audits have now been done in 32 states, many of which now have state ombudsmen or public access counselors of their own.
What I found particularly interesting, from the government officials who were attending, was that most of the inquiries those offices get – typically about 75% of them – come not from the news media, but from regular citizens.
Ironically, virtually every state audit has found that the agencies with the lowest compliance rate for producing public documents were in law enforcement – sheriff’s offices and jails. School districts and universities also had poor compliance in many states.
Nowadays, there’s plenty of help you can find on the web if you’re having trouble yourself prying public information from the government, or if you’re interested in the freedom of information movement around the country.
The National Freedom of Information Coalition, which put together the conference with a host of local sponsors, is based at the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism. Their website includes a list of local members around the country and information resources in all 50 states. If you’re interested in running an FOI audit locally, they’ll even send you a free CD-ROM “toolkit” to help you set it up.
The states with the most active and well-funded FOI groups are in Texas, Florida and California. Many other states also have groups, though as Hollie Manheimer of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation explained, “Some of us are a one or two person show in a basement.”
You can check out the availability of a wide variety of public records in your state – and how it compares with others – by going to citizenaccess.org, the website of the University of Florida’s Marion Brechner Citizen Access Project.
And if you want to see what a group of motivated college students can accomplish, check out the Texas-based “Light of Day Project” that sent a small army of college students tracking down crime records on Texas campuses. This year’s project is examining local police departments’ use of force – particularly tasers – in restraining criminal suspects.
Of course, it’s impossible to come away from a conference like this without thinking at least once of David and Goliath. If you’re intent on gathering public records at city hall, the school district, or the sheriff’s office, no state troopers are likely to clear the freeway ahead of you. On the other hand, if you’re denied a document that’s supposed to be public, it’s nice to know there are people – sometimes within the government itself – who’ll do everything they can to help.
