Transparency experts advising patience over Obama open government initiative

Federal agencies easily met the first deadline in the Obama open government initiative, but the next steps for improving transparency and getting public feedback will take longer say open government experts. -db

Federal Times
March 10, 2010
By Gregg Calstrom

The first steps were easy: Most agencies met the first deadline of President Obama’s December directive to launch open government [...]

Obama administration wants carrot method to promote open government

The Obama administration announced that it wants to use prizes and challenges to promote open government in federal agencies. -db

Secrrecy News
Federation of American Scientists
March 11, 2010
By Steven Aftergood

Executive branch agencies should “increase the use of prizes and challenges as tools for promoting open government,” the White House Office of Management and Budget said in a [...]

California governor orders end to shredding of sex offenders’ parole files

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered state officials to make the files of sex offenders available to the press and public. The order comes after a paroled sex offender was arrested for allegedly murdering a 17-year-old girl in San Diego County and the reluctant release of the parole files of the man who allegedly kidnapped a [...]

Transparency: S.F. mayor wants texting banned during city meetings

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom wants a ban on text messaging during meetings of the Board of Supervisors and city commissions to limit the influence of  lobbyists texting city officials and to keep the city government more transparent. -db
San Francisco Chronicle
March 10, 2010
By Heather Knight
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom wants to push the off button [...]

Leading gubernatorial candidates Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown need to show voters, by their own actions, that they are committed to transparency in government. Promises won’t cut it.

BY PETER SCHEER—As California voters begin the process of selecting the next  Governor of the ungovernable Golden State, the leading candidates owe them a demonstration of their commitment to government transparency.
All politicians are supportive of open-government “in principle;”  the question is whether they are committed in practice. The best test for that is a candidate’s [...]

California State Assembly Speaker bans texting in session

The new California Assembly Speaker has banned text messaging on the assembly floor prompting skepticism from First Amendment advocates that the ban is enforceable or efficacious. -db

CivSource
Commentary
March 9, 2010
By Bailey McCann

Last week, when John A. Perez became California’s new Assembly Speaker a point in his opening speech caught our eye — a new rule limiting [...]

Proposed national broadband access may lack funding

The Federal Communications Commission’s plan for national broadband access has great potential to speed communication and enhance public access to government information and services but faces obstacles in funding and net neutrality. -db
OMB Watch

March 9, 2010
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is gearing up to release its plan for national broadband access on March 17. The [...]

Editorial calls for Placer County District Attorney to enforce state’s open government law

The Auburn Journal argued for tighter enforcement of the Brown Act, California’s open government law, in light of a $l600 dinner meeting in 2008  in Washington D.C. during which three county supervisors lobbied the local congressman. -db
Auburn Journal
Editorial
March 7, 2010

During these tough economic times, government at every level faces media scrutiny. The public has [...]

Turlock school board finds way to defeat intent of state’s open government law

The editor of the Turlock Journal says the local school board did all the right things in listing the agenda in advance, making the meeting accessible to all and allowing ample time for public comment but still managed to trash the Brown Act, California’s open meeting law, by deciding the crucial issues of building renovations [...]

Mobile apps set to promote government transparency

A MediaShift blogger says that the smartphone app is allowing savvy politicians to communicate their platforms, generate support for their positions, get out the vote and raise money.  New apps are also expected to allow citizens greater access to government records. -db

MediaShift
Commentary
February 25, 2010
By Steven Davy
The importance of social media in politics was made [...]

Obama open government initiative inspires research on its effectiveness

Scholars say that there is increasing interest in the academic community in studying the effect of the government’s open government initiatives. -db
NextGov
March 1, 2010
By Aliya Sternstein
The practice of disclosing government data in a way that is meaningful to the public and holds the government accountable could become a growing area of scholarly interest, partly [...]

Federal court orders release of list of jets used by Big 3 automakers

ProPublica won a court battle in its Freedom of Information Act lawsuit to gain the release of a list of corporate jets used by Big 3 automakers to fly to Washington, D.C. to ask for a taxpayer bail out. -db

ProPublica
Commentary
February 26, 2010
By Michael Grabell

A federal district judge ruled Friday that a list of private planes [...]

Southern California: Hospital settles open meeting lawsuit in cash settlement

The Tri-City Medical Center settled a lawsuit brought by former hospital executives who alleged that the hospital violated the Brown Act, California’s open meeting law. In agreeing to pay $300,000, the hospital did not admit violating the act. -db
North County Times
February 25, 2010
By Paul Sisson
Tri-City Medical Center has settled a lawsuit brought by a group [...]

Capistrano schools: Trustees push state open meeting law aside

The Capistrano Unified School District board of trustees met without notice on a Sunday for a closed meeting on employee negotiations. It’s legal in most cases but  does not promote public confidence. -db

Capistrano Insider
Commentary
February 25, 2010
By Jonathan Volzke

Yes, the Capistrano Unified School District trustees met Sunday. But apparently it wasn’t illegal.

Trustees indeed met Sunday for [...]

Federal judge rules that Department of Justice must release memos for terrorist trial

In the case of the first Guantanamo detainee to be moved from military commission system to Article III court for trial on terrorism charges, a federal judge ruled that the Department of Justice must release their memos pertaining to the transfer of the accused terrorist. -db
New York Law Journal
February 25, 2010
By Mark Hamblett

Prosecutors must produce [...]

Drug cartel chief gets 25 years in secret proceeding

A federal district judge sentenced one of the most feared drug lords to 25 years in prison in a proceeding closed to the public, a rare occurrence for a sentencing phase. The judge offered no explanation for the secrecy. -db

Houston Chronicle
February 24, 2010
By Dane Schiller and Jacquee Petchel
Behind armed guards and locked doors [...]

Citizen committee completes draft of open government law for Berkeley

The Citizen’s Sunshine Review Committee finished its work in February on a sunshine ordinance which was written to encourage compliance with California sunshine laws. -db

The Berkeley Daily Planet
February 25, 2010
By Dean Metzger

Sadly the sun is setting on the printed Berkeley Daily Planet, but happily the sun could rise on open government in Berkeley. After three [...]

Panelists praise government agencies for open government initiatives

At an event sponsored by Government Executive, panelists said that there were some promising practices in the push for government transparency including expanded employee blogging, expanded use of the social media and well-attended online forums. -db

NextGov
February 24, 2010
By Emily Long
Agencies continue to innovate in response to the Obama administration’s open government initiatives, said panelists [...]

Federal government agencies: Transparency watch group assesses open data web pages

OMB Watch designated “leaders and laggards” after it conducted a study of government web pages designed to give citizens access to crucial information. -db
OMB Watch
February 23, 2010
Complying with requirements of the Open Government Directive (OGD), federal agencies launched transparency pages on their websites Feb. 6. The content and functionality of the pages varied from non-compliant [...]

San Diego planning task force accused of violating California’s open government law

Community members involved in planning for San Diego have expressed concerns about an advisory committee with a large representation of builders and developers. They claim the committee’s meetings were not adequately publicized. -db
San Diego Uptown News
February 20, 2010
By David Harvey

At the San Diego City Council’s Land Use and Housing (LU&H) committee meeting on Feb. 3, [...]

Federal archivist calls for reform on declassification policy and procedure

According to Michael J. Kurtz, Assistant Archivist at the National Archives, the backlog of records awaiting declassification will continue to grow until classification policies are changed. -db
Secrecy News
American Federation of Scientists
Opinion
February 22, 2010
By Steven Aftergood

Executive branch agencies have spent more than a billion dollars on declassification of government records in recent years, but [...]

White House tech officer challenges Tea Party activists to join transparency movement

The White House technology officer has challenged Republicans and Tea Party activists to a competition to establish greater transparency in government. -db

The Hill
February 22, 2010
By Kim Hart
In an ironic twist, the White House is inviting the Tea Party movement to challenge it on government transparency.
White House Chief Technology Officer Andrew McLaughlin said Republicans and [...]

Transparency: Environmental Protection Agency launches model web site

Transparency activists are expressing their approval of the EPA’s new site, the Rulemaking Gateway, that provides information about regulatory actions such as the control of greenhouse gas emissions in large vehicles. -db

NextGov
February 19, 2010
By Aliya Sternstein

As more agencies deploy online score cards that publicly chart the progress of specific missions, the Environmental Protection Agency’s new [...]

Local education activist sues Alameda unified schools

The founder of Alameda Concerned Parents is suing the Alameda Unified School District for violations of the state’s open government law, the Brown Act. -db

San Francisco Chronicle
Opinion
February 18, 2010
By Susan Davis
This just in — Kerry Cook, founder of Alameda Concerned Parents, which protested Lesson 9 last spring and fall — is now suing the Alameda [...]

Open meetings a work in progress in Victorville

An open government activist says there are still gross violations of the state’s open government law, the Brown Act, after the City Council had taken steps to conduct business in a more open manner. -db
Victorville Daily Press
February 15, 2010
By Brooke Edwards
VICTORVILLE, Calif. – After continued rumblings from citizens and the Daily Press about Victorville improperly using [...]

Counselor sues Yuba college district over closed door session concerning salary hike

A counselor at the Yuba Community College District is suing the district for rescinding her salary raise in closed session. The superior court judge has allowed Yuba college officials to testify in a closed court session. db
Appeal-Democrat
February 18, 2010
By Ryan McCarthy

Three Yuba Community College District trustees are among witnesses an employee plans to call in [...]

TV cable broadcasts of city council meeting in Norwalk censored

During broadcasts of its meetings on a government access cable channel, the Norwalk City Council blacks out public comments. Legal experts says the practice is legal but express dismay that the council feels it’s necessary to censor the public. -db
The Los Angeles Times
February 20, 2010
By Jeff Gottlieb
Like most towns, Norwalk broadcasts its City Council meetings [...]

Half Moon Bay officials plan private meeting to discuss safety issues of surfing contest

Half Moon Bay public safety agencies are meeting to air concerns about safety issues concerning the Mavericks Surf Contest but don’t want to open it to the public in the interests of encouraging an open and frank discussion. The editor of the Half Moon Bay Review argues that to close the meeting is not only [...]

Eureka school board admits to violating open meeting law in setting superintendent’s salary in 2008

The Eureka Union School Board admitted  they failed to report changes in the superintendent’s salary in open public session before approving them in a closed meeting. They also failed to make the original contract available to the public 72 hours before the meeting. -db
The Press Tribune
February 10, 2010
By Megan Wood
The Eureka Union School Board admitted [...]

Federal appeals court orders disclosure of names of telecom lobbyists

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the government must reveal name of lobbyists who working for retroactive liability protection for telecom companies who participated in warrantless surveillance of U.S. citizens after 9/11. -db
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
February 10, 2010
By Sherri M. Okamoto
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday ruled that the government was required [...]

UC Santa Barbara student newspaper staff asks for law requiring transparency in UC student government

Blocked from reporting on student government spending decisions and irresponsible acts at UC Santa Barbara, the student newspaper staff wrote a letter to California state officials and the legislature asking for a law to hold UC student governments to open government standards. -db
Daily Nexus
February 9, 2010
By Nexus Staff
To Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, UC President Mark Yudof, [...]

Texas cities forced to withdraw from free speech case

Since government agencies cannot suffer First Amendment rights violations, the Texas attorney general said that they cannot particpate in a case against the state’s open meetings law. City council members are contesting the law saying their free speech rights are being denied as the law prohibits government officials from conducting business in secret. -db
The Reporters Committee [...]

Amador County: Water agency accused of open meeting violations

A citizens group is calling for an investigation of the Amador Water Agency board for possible Brown Act violations when they held private conferences on board elections. -db

Ledger Dispatch
February 5, 2010
By Matthew Hedger

A local citizens group is asking the Amador Water Agency to seek legal counsel and investigate whether some directors violated provisions of the Brown [...]

Tulare County: County supervisors’ dinners out may have also violated open meeting law

Records requested under the California Public Records Act show that the five supervisors plus the county administrative officer are running up excessive expense accounts and indicated that the supervisors may have violated California’s open meeting law, the Brown Act, by dining often with a voting majority. -db
Visalia Times-Delta
Tulare Advance-Register
Editorial
February 4, 2010

Crescent City: Town government bodies may be stretching open meeting laws

A reporter for the Daily Triplicate writes that while “two-by-two” meetings held by the City Council and Harbor Commission are legal since they do not constitute a quorum, the practice may not realize the greatest potential for open government. -db

The Daily Triplicate
Commentary
February 01, 2010
By Kurt Madar

Non-public events are being used by our public officials. Del [...]

Media legal group joins freedom of information organization to support online reporters

The Online Media Legal Network of the Citizen Media Law Project is joining with the National Freedom of Information Coalition to help reporters with government information requests and FOIA lawsuits. -db
Citizens Media Law Project
Press Release
February 1, 2010
The Citizen Media Law Project is pleased to announce that its Online Media Legal Network (OMLN) is partnering [...]

Orange County: Investigation uncovers alleged open government violations by school district

A PublicCEO reporter alleges that the Garden Grove Unified School District Board of Trustees has committed serious violations of California’s open government law, the Brown Act. -db
PublicCEO
Commentary
February 2, 2010
By Chris Prevatt

One of the most important duties for elected officials to perform is to be open and honest about their actions and to maintain their compliance [...]

California’s central valley: Editorial cites disdain for Brown Act in call for action against three Highson city councilmen

An editorial in The Modesto Bee describes a mugging of the Brown Act and a general lack of civil behavior in suggesting that officials look at bringing criminal charges against three councilmen and that the public consider a recall. -db

The Modesto Bee

Editorial
January 31, 2010
Just when we thought city politics in Hughson couldn’t get any worse, [...]

Obama favors disclosing contacts between lobbyists with administration or Congress

The Electronic Frontier Foundation hails President Barack Obama’s statement in the State of the Union address about disclosing lobbyist contacts. The Obama administration has been fighting FOIA requests seeking identities of lobbyists working the Department of Justice and Director of National Intelligence. -db

Electronic Frontier Foundation
Commentary
January 28, 2010
By Kurt Opsahl

In yesterday’s State of the Union address, [...]

Public happy with efforts to put government information online

A new survey showed the public satisfaction with federal Web sites has increased from 73.6 points in 2007 to 75.2 for the third quarter of 2009. -db

Nextgov
January 26, 2010
By Jill Aitoro
Citizen satisfaction with federal Web sites increased significantly in 2009, indicating that efforts by the Obama administration to increase transparency in government are getting noticed, [...]

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