Any time lawyers are introduced to the simplest things the small print becomes gummier than a box of Dubble Bubble.
Reporters for Hearst Media have unpacked a circuitous stonewalling of public record requests from a variety of entities, the city habitually violating sunshine laws that led to a flaccid $750 fine from the Freedom of Information Commission, a toothless tiger declawed by state statute limiting fines to $1,000.
This isn’t new, it’s been going on for a long time chronicled on OIB.
There’s a simple solution: get the processing out of the hands of lawyers. Barristers look at something and knee-jerk a defensive blockade. It’s what they do.
Most requests are basic, benign pursuit of information centered on ordinary government business: police incident reports, public employee salaries, public safety overtime costs.
Some dicey requests will pop up that may be seen as gray areas requiring essential scrutiny before release. For the most part, however, this stuff should be out the door quickly, administered by department heads and/or a Communications Department.
It has gotten better recently. A few weeks ago I asked Mayor Joe Ganim’s Communications team for a list of top 100 municipal wage earners. Instead of being routed to the city’s FOI web portal, as in the past to make the request in writing where it languished for weeks processed by a lawyer’s slothy review and approval, the list was processed by the Personnel Office and emailed the same day.
When Ganim returned to the mayoralty in 2015, a gift bestowed by a forgiving electorate following his fall from grace in 2003, he promised translucence that included the first custom-designed FOI web portal for quicker access to information. Not a bad start. The problem emerged when he gave lawyers the power to sign off and distribute the information.
The so-called transparency has become a toothache now for Ganim; in an election year a gift to his three announced opponents who’ll likely jump on this like a leopard ambushing a capybara. And they should.
It’s a free shot. “I’m for FOI, he’s for sayonara.”
The backlog of access to public information has been brewing for years. When government bureaucrats don’t see the storm warnings, the drizzle turns into a raging downpour.
There’s an easy fix for Ganim: get the lawyers out of the way.
OIB readers/ Bridgeport residents,
Takes your breath away, doesn’t it? I mean, someone with real power (Hearst Publishing), because of ink, paper, and the printing press calling for justice, and speaking truth to another POWER. State of CT take note.
Current administrative process places the City Attorney Office in the catbird’s seat calling the shots as they see it. Unfortunately so many calls for FOI have to do with City matters that will end up with legal issues to be defended by City Attorney Office. Will info subject to such administrative process be distributed timely? Will it be sufficiently researched to provide reasonable understanding to the FOI requestor that they have been provided all that is available? Or will that question still remain, with full understanding of rules regarding redactions? How to resolve this knot?
Find another party in City government like an ombudsperson. But Bridgeport has not seen the wisdom of such a party as other local or regional governments. You will not choose to relegate FOI administration and response to Public Works, Library, or WPCA either for various reasons. How about an office that is unique to the administration of Mayor Joseph Ganim II called the Office of Accountability and Integrity. Both matters in that agency name seem fit and suitable to the task at hand. Organize the FOI task, respond to requests, and keep all parties informed?? Accountability with integrity? What more will you ask? Time will tell.
John this is a continuance of my response, being my favorite. Posting here to give Lennie some comment counts. Since so many have fallen off.
The best you can shoot for is FAIR play.
We have to define “Fair” and “equality” though.
Let’s be FAIR (outside of coded hidden language words) How FAIR can things really be when seeking unity? Cultural speaking throughout human history the world has been a male-dominated patriarchal existence. Is that fair to say?
When speaking of a man-dominant cultural subjugation perhaps hammer away at the subject as if it were Public Enemy #1. Is not so bad. So many hidden-in-plain-sight factors that can attribute that are never really spoken about. Let’s try, one that stands out to me is the penis size. Being a betting man I would bet the farm those black cops that beat the shit out of Trye were not as blessed. So it said.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmzHuK0EDs0
Though perhaps we should define what it means to be “BLESS” IDENTIFY it, UNCOVER it, CHANNEL it, Naturally, CULTURALLY speaking, of course.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vL0ufet7Mas