Georgia transparency headlines
From Sunshine Review
This article is a list of transparency related news from Georgia.
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| Report It • | The Good • | The Bad • | The Ugly | |
Washington County Commissioners compelled to return documents
MARIETTA, Georgia: Two former Washington County commissioners are being investigated for deleting or transferring a large number of files, some related to budget preparation, from their office computers before leaving office last year. On February 6, search warrants for the homes of the two commissioners were issued and nearly 7,000 documents were recovered.[1] The Washington County sheriff’s office recommended that charges, including theft in office, be filed against the commissioners, but the County Prosecutor has not yet taken any action against them.
Bill to keep police-citizen e-mail lists private
"E-mail addresses of residents who have signed up for Cobb Police bulletins could soon be protected from prying eyes.
Senate Bill 26, which passed both houses of the Georgia Legislature without opposition, would exempt e-mail distribution lists kept by police and fire departments from Open Records requests. The bill requires Gov. Sonny Perdue's signature to become law."
Editorial: Good news, bad news on Open Records Act
"The good news is that someone in the state legislature has recognized the state Open Records Act has become unwieldy over the years as lawmakers have adopted numerous exemptions to the law, exemptions that limit the amount of information the public can get from the array of state and local governmental and quasi-governmental institutions.
The bad news - or, to be more fair, the potentially bad news - is that the "someone" is House Speaker Glenn Richardson, R-Hiram."
Clarke BOE, counsel need schooling on records
"Despite the position of the Clarke County Board of Education and its attorney to the contrary, the contract offered to new Clarke County Schools Superintendent Philip Lanoue was a public document even before the new superintendent signed it. The fact the board and its attorney apparently didn't know that is a clear sign they may need a detailed review of the state's Open Records Act, which sets the parameters for public access to government documents.
In the hours before the board voted unanimously Thursday to extend Lanoue a $165,000 per year contract (bumped up to $170,000 when he completes work on his doctorate), board member Denise Mewborn, who headed the district's months-long superintendent search, told this newspaper the contract wouldn't be released until Lanoue signed it."
BOE lawyer delays contract release
"The Clarke County Board of Education will not release the salary or other details about the employment of a new superintendent until several days after board members voted unanimously to hire him.
The board approved a contract Thursday with Cobb County area superintendent Philip Lanoue, but refused to release the document until Tuesday.
While Georgia's open records laws require school boards and other government bodies to allow the public access to documents, the school board's attorney refused to let people know the details, saying the contract ought to be protected."
DHR consultant’s pay probed
"The head of the state Department of Human Resources, whose hiring practices have drawn past scrutiny, is facing new allegations of preferential treatment of an employee.
Georgia’s inspector general is investigating the employment of Cynthia Tate after an anonymous complaint said Tate was a “personal friend” of B.J. Walker, commissioner of the department, when Tate was hired.
The complaint also alleged that Walker allowed Tate to charge the state for hours not worked to compensate for her travel costs to and from Chicago, where she lives while commuting regularly to Georgia for her work. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution received a copy of that complaint, made anonymously by a DHR employee."
APD reports and Chief “Spinnington”
"Last week, the Savannah-Chatham County Police agreed to make available to the public a list of all police reports.
The decision comes at the end of a battle with the Savannah Morning News over access to police reports. In December, the police department notified the newspaper that reports would no longer be available for public review. Instead, reporters would have to ask for a specific report.
This has long been the situation at our own Atlanta Police Department. When the APD ignored my open records request last summer, I dug through the stack of reports available for review at Central Records, and, as expected, never found the incident I was after. It has been common knowledge among reporters for years that the stack of “open” reports at the APD’s Central Records is scrubbed of most serious crime. If a reporter searches the stack for a specific report of a violent crime, as I did, there’s a better than average chance that it won’t be in the stack."
Franklin blasted for limiting access to police records
"The city of Atlanta’s attempt to limit Citizen Review Board access to police files came under heavy fire Wednesday.
About a dozen citizens joined five city council members in blasting Mayor Shirley Franklin’s plan to reduce the group’s access to criminal investigation files.
“I cannot support something that will dilute (the board’s) power,” Atlanta City Council member H. Lamar Willis said. “There’s nothing to discuss.”"
Police records: Follow the law
"Local governments in Georgia can't arbitrarily decide which information they wish to make public.
They must follow state law.
And it's not complicated. The mandates of the Open Records Act are clear and straightforward.
Legally, government agencies can't pick and choose which portions of the law they want to follow anymore than a falling rock can fight gravity.
Unfortunately, attorneys for the City of Savannah have chosen so far to take a hard-headed stand and are refusing to follow state law, as it applies to public records at the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department."
Hall loaded with records requests
"Some Hall County officials claim the cost of open government was too high in 2008.
In response to what they call a high volume of open records requests, the Hall County Board of Commissioners is urging state lawmakers to consider changing the law to increase the amount the county can charge per copy."
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