[nfbmi-talk] Fw: ha ha we're exempt

[David Robinson]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: joe harcz Comcast 
To: David Robinson NFB MI 
Cc: terry Eagle ; Darma Canter 
Sent: Wednesday, March 25, 2015 8:01 AM
Subject: ha ha we're exempt


Michigan needs sun shine on public records LANSING If you heard about the rat-tainted cakes being fed to Michigan prisoners last week, you understand the

power of so-called sunshine laws. Progress Michigan, a group critical of privatizing government services, used the Michigan Freedom of Information Act

to pry open emails from the food service company, Aramark, exposing the incident where workers were told to cut off the rat-eaten parts and frost the cakes

for inmate consumption. Is this truly how we want our taxpayer dollars spent? While that's an example of where FOIA worked to expose what most reasonable

people would deem sickening, Michigan's law has much room for improvement. A new law, effective in July, will limit the costs public bodies may charge

to fulfill a FOIA request, moving Michigan toward more openness. Yet Michigan has many exemptions to the FOIA law and, in the 39 years since the law passed,

has never extended FOIA to the governor's office or the Legislature. "I think we have some of the cloudiest sunshine laws in the nation,' said Rep. Brandon

Dillon, D-Grand Rapids, who has sponsored legislation to extend the Michigan FOIA to the long-exempt Legislature and governor's office. How far Dillon's

bill makes it will be a barometer of whether our elected officials truly care about the concept of transparency or whether they just say they do. Dillon

said years ago, as a legislative staff member, he was worried about an off-color email and warned a fellow staffer that it could be embarrassing if released

under an open records request. He was told: "Ha, ha, don't worry. We're exempt from FOIA. "Other people have to live by a set of laws that we do not have

to,' Dillon said. "I just don't see how we can say legislative staffers have some kind of privilege that a staffer at (a state department) does not. Dillon

spoke to a gathering of journalists in Lansing this week to mark Sunshine Week, an annual nationwide celebration of access to public information. East

Lansing City Clerk Marie Wicks, who handles the city of East Lansing's FOIA requests outside of police matters, also addressed the group. Wicks is a leader

when it comes to openness in public records. That was clear Sunday when my colleague Steven Reed wrote a front-page story on how local officials treat

requests for open records. Wicks' positive attitude stood out. East Lansing charged for only 15 of the 143 non-police FOIA requests last year, while three

other municipalities surveyed charged for most or all requests. Wicks said she is just doing her job in releasing information since it is the public's

right to know. She makes information as widely available as possible at no charge, only charging when complicated requests eat up large amounts of staff

time. "At the end of the day, you're going to get this information. Do we make it hard or do we make it easy? It just makes sense to work collaboratively,'

Wicks said. Wicks is an official who stands out because she understands that high FOIA costs shouldn't be used to discourage citizens from asking for public

information or as a way to generate more money for the local government unit. "FOIA should not be a source of revenue. The fee structure is to balance

onerous costs, not be a revenue stream,' said Jeremy Steele, a journalism faculty member at Michigan State University and a member of the Michigan Coalition

for Open Government. Let's face it, it's human nature to behave better when somebody is watching. Strong sunshine laws make sure that the somebody watching

government is us -- the public. Email me at jputnam at lsj.com, call 267-1304 or write to 120 E. Lenawee St., Lansing, MI 48919. You can also find me at www.facebook.com/judyputnam

and on Twitter @ JudyPutnam. FOIA Tips Tips for filing a Freedom of Information request from East Lansing City Clerk Marie Wicks: Be as specific as you

can Request a document (not an action or motivation) Make sure you have the correct level of government

 

This article is provided to you as a courtesy of NFB