Missouri transparency headlines
From Sunshine Review
This article is a list of transparency related news from Missouri.
Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt's controvery about e-mails is really about the public's right to know
November 20, 2008: After an exhaustive three days huddled together in a fifth-floor newspaper conference room, 12 reporters and editors from the state's three largest news organizations breathed a collective sigh of relief and wondered aloud about what they had found.
Together, in a rare if not unprecedented collaboration, we had combed through 22 boxes of e-mails from the administration of Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt. Page by painful page, we read nearly every word of more than 60,000 of them from a three-month period in 2007 as the issue of e-mails and public records rose to statewide attention. Read the full column here.
E-mail record contradicts Blunt claims
November 15, 2008: For more than a year, Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt’s administration has defended itself against accusations that it has ignored laws that guarantee an open government.
The administration contended that a fired staff lawyer never offered advice about the governor's policy requiring public records, including e-mails, to be retained.
But he did.
Blunt’s staffers said the administration did not regularly conduct state business out of public view on campaign e-mail accounts.
But they did.Read the full article here.
Blunt's office had no e-mail sheriff
November 13, 2008: When it came to handling office e-mails in Gov. Matt Blunt's administration, it was up to individual employees to decide what to save and what to purge.
Nobody made sure that state rules for preserving public records, including e-mails, were followed, according to sworn testimony by three former top members of Blunt's administration. Read the full article here.
Blunt attorneys denied ordering deletion of e-mails
November 12, 2008: Two attorneys who advised the governor's office on document retention denied telling computer technicians to record over backup tapes that store state e-mail records, according to depositions released Wednesday.
The state's deputy computer chief, Chris Wilkerson, has testified previously that he was told to reuse the e-mail backup tapes after a Sunshine Law request was submitted by The Associated Press. Read the full article here.
Mo. gov. wants e-mail lawsuit dismissed
November 5, 2008: An attorney representing Gov. Matt Blunt against a lawsuit over access to his office's e-mail records urged a state trial judge to dismiss the case Wednesday.
Former Supreme Court Judge John Holstein, who represents the Republican governor, said the lawsuit doesn't offer evidence for many of its allegations and it's still unclear exactly who is suing. Holstein, using the example of a lawsuit in an automobile case, said someone can't sue and accuse another of driving illegally without explaining how. Read the full article here.
Missouri governor to remain a party to ex-counsel’s defamation lawsuit
November 4, 2008: A judge on Monday refused to dismiss Gov. Matt Blunt from a lawsuit accusing him of ruining a staff member’s reputation to cover up the illegal destruction of public records.
Jackson County Circuit Judge Michael Manners rejected the argument that Blunt in the performance of his job has absolute immunity to make any derogatory statements about people. Read the full article here.
Mo. gov. agrees to give e-mail records to media
October 15, 2008: Gov. Matt Blunt has agreed to provide old e-mails at no cost to several media outlets that sued his administration.
Under a settlement announced Wednesday, Blunt's administration is to provide free copies of records from the state's backup e-mail system to satisfy media Sunshine Law requests. Read the full article here.
Taser records to be released by end of October, police say
October 11, 2008: The Columbia Police Department will release its Taser-use records by the end of the month, but the records won't go directly to the group that asked for them in the first place. Instead, the records are headed to the City Council, where they'll be reviewed and made available to the public free of charge.
Mayor Darwin Hindman decided last week to intervene in the dispute over access to records between the Police Department and Grass Roots Organizing, the Missouri-based advocacy group that requested the records. Hindman announced the plan publicly at Monday's City Council meeting. Read the full article here.
Council action to open Taser files
October 9, 2008: Extensive information about local law enforcement officers’ use of Tasers will be made available to the public by the end of the month after Mayor Darwin Hindman asked that records sought by a local activist coalition be provided to the Columbia City Council.
In August, Ed Berg, on behalf of activist group Grass Roots Organizing, or GRO, and other groups, made an Open Meetings and Records Law request to the Columbia Police Department for records concerning their use of Tasers. Read the full article here.
Sunshine policy adopted; Solid Waste District T appoints Jim Dickerson as official custodian of records
October 6, 2008: Working with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Solid Waste District T is making changes to tighten up its policies and procedures, including a Missouri Sunshine Law policy and designated records custodian.
The Solid Waste District had failed to comply with the requirements for record keeping and public meeting notices, according to a performance audit completed earlier this year.
In order to comply with the intent of the Sunshine Law, the district has adopted a policy that mirrors what the Missouri Attorney General’s office recommends. Read the full article here.
St. Peters Wins Open Records Suit Over Great Rivers
September 9, 2008: The Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court ruled in favor of St. Peters in a lawsuit filed against the city by the Great Rivers Environmental Law Center.
The Great Rivers Environmental Law Center was seeking records involving the city's effort to revise the government's map of the Mississippi River floodway. In the suit they alleged that the city "knowingly and purposely" violated the Sunshine Law.
St. Charles County Circuit Judge Ted House ruled for the city last week.
House determined the city did not violate Missouri's open- records law. The Judge also ruled that the Great Rivers Environmental Law Center should pay court costs for the court case.
Amended lawsuit renewed in Blunt e-mail case
August 25, 2008: A bipartisan pair of prominent attorneys renewed a lawsuit Monday seeking e-mails from Gov. Matt Blunt's office while asserting it has violated Missouri's open-records law.
The amended lawsuit also renews an assertion that someone acting under the control of the governor's office sought to destroy backup e-mail records to avoid complying with a Sunshine Law request by The Associated Press. Read the full article here.
Overland: Public records attached with price tag
July 29, 2008: She knew copies of public records weren't handed out free of charge, but Overland resident Courtney Cerulo didn't expect the fee that would be attached to a videodisc of a City Council session.
Cerulo would have to pay $155 for the recording, which she wanted in hopes of bolstering her complaint that Ward 1 Councilwoman Eedie Cuminale is serving on the council even though she lacks an occupancy permit. Read the full article here.
Missteps suggest need for Sunshine Law training
July 27, 2008: A 911 advisory board arrived at a recommendation without a public meeting.
A park advisory board chairman took informal votes by telephone to reach a decision.
A senior citizens board failed to notify the public of money being allocated.
At least two government bodies held closed-door sessions to confront elected officials.
Those are five of nearly a dozen potential violations in Missouri's open meeting and records law documented in recent months by the Southeast Missourian. In many cases, decisions to spend tax dollars were made without public input. Read the full article here.
Judge names bipartisan legal duo to take over e-mail suit filed against Blunt
July 23, 2008: A bipartisan duo of lawyers from Mexico, Mo., has been charged with determining what happens to a lawsuit over e-mails filed against Gov. Matt Blunt.
On Tuesday, Cole County Circuit Judge Richard Callahan issued an order naming the two lawyers — Joe Maxwell and Louis Leonatti— as "special assistant attorneys general" who will review the suit and decide whether to go forward with it. Read the full article here.
Bipartisan team investigates Blunt over emails
Judge zaps lawsuit over Blunt e-mail
July 11, 2008: A circuit judge in Jefferson City today threw out a lawsuit to force access to Gov. Matt Blunt’s e-mail records.
Cole County Circuit Judge Richard Callahan upheld a request from Blunt’s lawyers that the suit be dismissed. Callahan found that Mel Fisher, a special investigator appointed by Attorney General Jay Nixon to look at the records, lacked standing to bring the suit to gain access. Read the full article here.
Judge set to rule on whether battle for Blunt's e-mails can continue
July 10, 2008: A Cole County judge expects to decide next week whether a state investigative team and three news organizations can pursue their court battle for copies of Gov. Matt Blunt's e-mails.
Blunt's lawyers, Jim Meadows and John Holstein of Springfield, argued Thursday that the investigators lacked legal authority and their lawsuit seeking the e-mails should be thrown out. Read the full article here.
Governor signs Textbook Transparency Act
Judge hears police public records case lawyers in private
June 21, 2008: A court session in a lawsuit aimed at gaining public access to police department records was held in private Friday while the plaintiff and a reporter were left waiting outside.
"Isn't it great irony that we are here to talk about open government," said John Chasnoff, an activist who filed the suit demanding internal documents about officers who used 2006 World Series tickets that had been seized from scalpers. Read the full story here.
Mo. media outlets try to join e-mail lawsuit
June 11, 2008: Several media outlets are seeking to enter a government lawsuit against Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt.
The lawsuit was filed in May by investigators selected by Attorney General Jay Nixon to determine whether Blunt's office violated open-records laws by deleting some e-mails. The suit accuses Blunt or a deputy of ordering the destruction of backup e-mail tapes to avoid complying with an Associated Press open-records request. Read the full story here.
Missouri Budget approved by House
March 28, 2008: A $22.5 billion budget passed the House on Thursday as Democrats complained that the spending increases proposed by majority Republicans for education and health care weren't large enough. The budget is a $1 million dollar increase over the previous year, which had set a record as the largest budget in Missouri's history. House Budget Committee Chairman Allen Icet said state money for public schools has more than doubled from 1997 to the 2008 budget while student enrollment has remained virtually flat.[1]
Teacher pay provisions not based on merit
March 21, 2008: There are several bills in the General Assembly this session concerning teacher pay. Individual teachers should be able to decide whether their compensation is based on their individual performance; it should not be left to the discretion of a monopolistic cartel. The majority of teachers will not vote to accept merit pay, because without merit pay, bad teachers will receive the same pay as good teachers — a tragedy of any state-run enterprise.
Worse, this provision provides perverse incentives for good teachers because it discourages them from remaining in a profession where their performance quality is under-recognized. And if Missouri’s aggregate public school performance is any indication of teacher quality, there are far more bad teachers in the state than good.[2]
