PUBLIC RECORDS NOW AVAILABLE THROUGH E-MAIL:

Citizens in New York can now request and receive government records via e-mail -- and likely save time and money in the process.

The change to what's commonly called the "Open Records Law" will greatly enhance ordinary citizens' access to records their local and state governments keep, supporters said.

The legislation aims to modernize the state's Freedom of Information Law, or FOIL, and to make it easier and cheaper to access information. FOIL, enacted in New York in 1974, outlines the rights of the public to see government documents.
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The change requires all of New York's state and local government bodies to accept FOIL requests via e-mail.
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The change also will make it cheaper to view documents because e-mail eliminates duplication fees. Under FOIL, an agency may charge up to 25 cents per copy. This can mean thousands of dollars for large documents.

Here's the link to the Committee on Open Government page that has a form for records officers to use to respond to e-mailed FOIL requests. Also, the article is overbroad about who must accept e-mail requests. The law provides: "All entities shall, provided such entity has reasonable means available, accept requests for records submitted in the form of electronic mail and shall respond to such requests by electronic mail, using forms, to the extent practicable, consistent with the form or forms developed by the committee on open government pursuant to subdivision one of this section and provided that the written requests do not seek a response in some other form."

Posted by Joel Seachrist at 09:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

PATAKI TO SIGN INFORMATION ACCESS LAW:

Gov. George Pataki said Wednesday he intends to sign a bill to strengthen the state's freedom of information law and another that will make low-cost power available to manufacturing companies.
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The FOIL measure, passed earlier this year by the Legislature, will allow courts to award attorney's fees and other costs of litigation to someone who has sued to get access to documents when a government agency improperly denies a request or delays a decision unreasonably.

Posted by Joel Seachrist at 09:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Long-time readers may remember last year's discussion of changes to the Freedome of Information Law (FOIL), which I predicted wouldn't be of much practical effect, and would spur the usual suspects to lobby for more changes. What was particular irksome was that few newspapers last year disclosed that the lobbying effor for the proposed changes was . . . the assocation of newspaper publishers. To be clear about my position, I agree with sunshine laws philosopically, but find that too often they are used more to harass than to enlighten. Anyway, here's an article about this year's changes: PATAKI STRENGTHENS FREEDOM OF INFORMATION LAW:

A new law should make it faster and cheaper for New Yorkers to gain government records and Gov. George Pataki is considering another bill that could strengthen the Freedom of Information Law.

A bill signed into law last week by Pataki allows New Yorkers to use e-mail to request most government records.

Common records sought under FOIL are minutes of closed-door meetings, correspondence by officials about development projects and competitive bidding, and government use of taxpayers' money.
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[Robert] Freeman said the law could speed release of public records as well as eliminate the cost of copying. That per-page cost can total hundreds of dollars and has deterred some people from actually taking possession of records disclosed under FOIL.

But the biggest change in the post-Watergate law aimed at keeping government honest is still on Pataki's desk.

That law would allow courts to force local and state governments and school districts to pay attorney fees to a citizen, group, business or news organization denied access even if there isn't a broad public interest in the records. The law would also allow a court to force government and school districts to pay court costs if officials had no "reasonable basis for denying access" or they failed to respond to a request within the time required by law.

In practice, the measure could prevent any denials of records by officials who knew individuals, groups or news organizations didn't have the resources to sue to overturn the denial.

Posted by Joel Seachrist at 09:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last night's board meeting was contentious, not unexpectedly: PERU POLITICAL WOES CONTINUE

Posted by Joel Seachrist at 10:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

KIRKLAND WON'T DISCLOSE HIGHWAY WORKERS' STATUS:

Town officials will not release the employment status of the highway superintendent and two highway employees who were involved in an altercation at the highway garage on Route 12B last month.

Supervisor Annette S. Foley said Monday she could not comment on the employment status of any of the parties involved.

"I was advised by the town attorney that it was a personnel issue and it could not be discussed," Foley said. The supervisor had previously said that town councilmen also were advised not to discuss the issue.

Town Attorney Anthony G. Hallak refused to talk about the matter. The Observer-Dispatch filed two Freedom of Information Law requests with the attorney, requesting to receive the employment status of Highway Superintendent Fred N. Hutchings and highway employees Kenneth Goodson Jr. and Robert Emery. According to the sheriff's office, those three were involved in the fight. One of the FOIL requests also asked if the employees were still on the town payroll, which is a public document.

"We don't discuss client matters until the matter is closed," Hallak said. The attorney said he plans to respond to the FOIL request, "according to law."

But whether a case is closed, Robert Freeman, executive director of the Committee on Open Government, said government officials have the responsibility to release the employment status of any government employee.

"Government officials and attorneys don't have to talk, but that's why we have the Freedom of Information Law," Freeman said. "But agencies must respond to requests for records whether a case is open or not, and the fact of one's employment status with a government agency, in a government record, is unquestionably public."

It would be easier to judge the reasonableness of the Town's response if the article told us when the FOIL requests had been submitted. If they were very recent requests- i.e. within the last 5 business days- the Town would not have been required to respond until today, and a failure to do so before now doesn't indicate anything. But that wouldn't have made a splashy headline, nor support the usual comments from FOIL Czar Freeman..

Posted by Joel Seachrist at 06:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)