Islip official quits, two suspended in probe
May 4, 2009: "Islip's deputy public works commissioner has resigned and two department managers have been suspended after, town officials say, they played golf and went on at least one boating excursion during work hours and used town-issued vehicles for the personal trips.
Newsday had submitted a Freedom of Information request in February for the GPS records of town vehicles driven by the four men, and the town launched its own investigation." Read the full article here.
Local courts to fix public record process
May 4, 2009: "Local practices that have kept critical state civil court documents out of the public record in Monroe County and elsewhere in the state should be corrected by summer, the state's chief administrative judge said last week.
Addressing the issue more than two months after the state Office of Court Administration had claimed the filing lapses would be remedied within weeks, Judge Ann Pfau said in a telephone interview that a committee of judges and county and court clerks from across the state is working toward a resolution." Read the full article here.
EDITORIAL: State Web site very helpful
April 29, 2009: "When the State Attorney General's Office launched its new Web site Project Sunlight in 2007, it served as a most useful tool for those who wanted to find out what their state representatives were up to.
It provided information about legislation, voting records, lobbyist connections, government contracts and more. All of this information was, and is, available to the public through other means, but the attorney general's new Web site made searches that much easier." Read the full editorial here.
Ms. Barnette's poor excuse
April 23, 2009: "So there you have it, Albany: How and why people get their parking tickets excused, forgiven, fixed or whatever word you choose, is none of your business, according to Albany City Treasurer Betty Barnette.
It's a matter of medical privacy, you see.
That's right, Ms. Barnette and her lawyer, Brian Devane, offer what must surely be one of the most creative and lame excuses for secrecy ever to come out of City Hall in refusing to give the Common Council access to the written explanations that drivers use to get out of parking tickets." Read the full column here.
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