Mississippi transparency headlines
From Sunshine Review
This article is a list of transparency related news from Mississippi.
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| Report It • | The Good • | The Bad • | The Ugly | |
"Media representatives have to deal with recalcitrant officials all too often when it comes to seeking information.
It is just part of the job, although it shouldn't have to be. At least we have the ability to inform the public when it happens and resources to oppose violations of the law.
When a Jackson City Council member has trouble getting information, it shows just how bad attitudes are when it comes to openness."
"Mississippi can and should do better than rank last among U.S. states for putting government information online.
The state especially lacks postings of government disciplinary actions and inspections.
We know about the sorry state of open records in Mississippi because of the Sunshine Week 2009 Survey of State Government Information Online and local press reports."
"Mississippi ranks last once again.
A recent national survey found that while many states put basic public records on the Internet, Mississippi still requires people to request most documents by mail or in person, and sometimes the state requires people to pay for the records.
It’s a horse-and-buggy system in a world where people elsewhere fly first-class."
"A legal magazine dealing with prison issues has sued the Mississippi Department of Corrections for access to records of contracts with a prison telephone service provider.
The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Hinds County Chancery Court.
Prison Legal News, a nonprofit monthly publication that reports on prison issues nationwide, claimed MDOC refused to provide a copy of its contract with Global Tel-Link as part of a research article on prison telephone services. "
"When boardroom doors illegally close in the face of the public, elected leaders are no longer acting on behalf of their constituents. They are running a monarchy.
And in the case of the Adams County Board of Supervisors, ignorance should no longer be a valid excuse. They’ve been down this road before.
In late January 2008, three of the supervisors — Mike Lazarus, S.E. “Spanky” Felter and Henry Watts — met illegally with two county department heads."
"The Mississippi Senate had shown promise of new openness last session under Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant, but apparently has slipped back into its old habits of government secrecy.
Wednesday was a bad day for openness and ethics in the Senate.
Senators voted 26-23 to recommit a bill that would have made government records more available to the public. Then it followed up that shortsighted action by killing an ethics reform bill to limit lobbying activities on the taxpayer's dime."
"Public-records laws have been a hot topic at the Capitol over the last few days.
One measure that would offer exclusions to Mississippi public-records laws is still alive, while another bill that would have lessened the costs citizens pay and shortened the time governments have to comply with such requests died in the Senate Wednesday.
The House and Senate would have to come to an agreement on whether to exempt the locations of privately-built reefs from public-records laws. The measure is part of larger legislation that establishes a program in Mississippi that allows individuals and commercial operations to construct reefs in the Gulf for fishing."
"Mississippi’s open records law is a bit like a baseball bat made of Swiss cheese — it’s riddled with holes and thus relatively harmless if you were to get hit by it.
The slow grinding wheels of state government came a little closer to plugging a couple of tiny holes in the bat recently though.
Two different bills — one in the House and one in the Senate — would begin to bolster the state’s weak public records laws."
"Gov. Haley Barbour's new press secretary will get nearly $17,000 more than his predecessor, drawing criticism during a time of budget cuts.
A public records request revealed that Dan Turner will get an $80,000 annual salary, up from $63,200 paid to Pete Smith, The Clarion-Ledger reported Saturday.
Smith is now spokesman for the state Department of Education, making $84,000 a year."
"The Jackson City Council may sue Mayor Frank Melton to get financial information about vendors the city paid last year.
The City Council plans to vote on an order to compel the mayor to release the financial documents, which the mayor said he will veto, 16 WAPT's Joseph Pleasant reported.
"Anyone who releases that information will be terminated immediately," Melton told his chief administrative officer, Robert Walker, and city attorney, Sarah O'Reily Evans during Tuesday's City Council meeting."
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