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Sunday, March 20, 2011

Government requests to withhold information from public rise sixfold since 1998


This (legislative) session, more than two dozen bills have been introduced to exempt additional government information from public release or enable agencies to charge more money for making documents available


Note:
In case you missed it, here's a sobering story about our local governments increasing efforts to stall or withhold open record requests . . . from the public they serve, no less. Hays County governmental entities are playing this shell game to the hilt, as if to tell the public "what we do is really none of your business."

A very recent example is a letter sent to Attorney General Greg Abbott from the City of San Marcos:

"Dear Mr. Abbott:

The City of San Marcos ("City") received the above-referenced request on March 14, 2011 (Exhibit 1). By copy of this letter, the City is informing the requestor that the City believes the requested information (Exhibits 2 and 2A) to be excepted from public disclosure under S552.108(a)(2) of the Texas Government Code . . .

"The City respectfully requests an opinion. Please do not hesitate to contact the undersigned at (512) 393-8150, should you require additional information."

Read the complete story at this link:
http://www.statesman.com/news/texas-politics/government-requests-to-withhold-information-from-public-rise-1331771.html

By Chuck Lindell
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Published: 9:27 p.m. Friday, March 18, 2011

On an average day last year, the Texas attorney general received 87 letters from government agencies seeking permission to withhold information requested by reporters, taxpayers and other interested parties.

The daily deluge added up to 21,044 requests to keep information private in 2010, a sixfold jump since 1998. The number reflects greater citizen use of the Texas Public Information Act, a growing number of exceptions to disclosure added by the Legislature and, open government advocates say, attempts by some agencies to stall time-sensitive investigations.

Whatever the reason, the trend is a sobering coda on the last day of Sunshine Week, observed annually by media organizations promoting openness and transparency in government. It's also a challenge for the attorney general's open records division, which in most cases must grant approval before a governmental body can deny requested information.

Transparency is essential to democratic function, and state law requires the division to interpret the Public Information Act in favor of openness. With a deadline of 45 business days to research and answer each request, the staff of 36 assistant attorneys general produces letter opinions at an average rate of 2½ per day per attorney.
[snip]

Minimal research by the requesting agency could answer many questions about whether certain documents must be provided, they said, but involving the attorney general often delays releasing information that has repeatedly been determined to be publicly available.

Sometimes, the delays are intentional, Elkins said. "We hear those complaints all the time," he said. "It happens every day."

Another problem, Elkins said, is when agencies say they have 10 days to fulfill an open records request. "That is a clear violation of the law," he said.

In the 2009 legislative session, the Public Information Act was amended 20 times to exempt information from release or change how the law was applied. This session, more than two dozen bills have been introduced to exempt additional government information from public release or enable agencies to charge more money for making documents available, according to a database kept by the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas, a nonprofit advocacy group.

4 comments:

Read the Fine Print said...

This comment is not exactly on topic, but it does give an example
of how legislators write things into bills that help their patrons
at the expense of the people the
bill governs. We have to be vigilant not to let things pass,
because when they do, we get
taunted with, "Well, you VOTED for
it." (That's what Conley is saying
to us now when we complain about
actual construction -- not planning-- along RR 12 between
Wimberley and San Marcos. Except
he's wrong; we DIDN'T vote for it.
He just hoped we wouldn't notice or
remember that the bond issue
explicity said no construction was
to be done with the money.)

SB 1877 was filed in the TX Senate
on March 15 by Sen. Glenn Hegar,
who "serves" Caldwell and Bastrop
counties and several others, all the way down to Katy, TX. This bill
will create Oatman Hill Municipal
Utility District in northern Caldwell County. Here is a verbatim part of the bill:

"Sec. 8327.153 CONTRACT TAXES
b) A contract approved by the
district voters may contain a
provision stating that the contract may be modified or amended by the board WITHOUT FURTHER VOTER APPROVAL."

Why should Sen. Hegar even include
such a provision? No voters should
give a board latitude to change a
contract on which they have voted
without their agreeing to the changes. Whom is Hegar serving here?

Anonymous said...

More Hegar-sponsored secrecy:

State Senator Glenn Hegar authored
"SB 1130, relating to the exception
from required public disclosure of
certain records of an appraisal
district."

Anonymous said...

One thing that caught my ear in the video was when the gentleman mentioned that the City of Wimberley is proposing a property tax and forming workgroups. Sounds serious for the people of that "Little bit of Heaven". Ad Valorem Taxes in Heaven? Can anybody confirm or deny or maybe have any more information?

By the way Mr. Editor, the quality and professional look of your videos have steadily improved to a point rarely at this level of journalism. Keep it up!

The Truth said...

Republican State Senator Hegar's website says:

"Senator Hegar is a strong advocate for reducing over burdensome government regulations and excessive spending and for moving the antiquated ways of state government into the 21st Century. Glenn's work to protect our constitutional freedoms, individual rights, and the ability of small businesses to grow without unnecessary government interference has earned him numerous awards and recognition."

Apparently his idea of reducing goverment regulation is to do away with citizen access to government records.

Herein lies the real truth about the Republican politicians. What they say and what they do are entirely different. They are social Nazis when it comes to forcing people - especially women - to submit to invasive medical procedures and they lie to people all the time about being "on their side" when it comes to individual freedoms and the political activities of citizens.

Interesting how both of the above comments who mentioned Hegar failed to mention he was a Republican.

But in the immortal words of Newt Gingrich: "I cheated on my first two wives (the first one when she was in bed with cancer) because I was stressed out being so patriotic and trying to make America a better place."