Local newspapers like the nearby Janesville Gazette often self-servingly contend that they’re like the last oasis before a news desert. It’s closer to the truth to say they’re a contributor to an increasingly arid local climate. Even stories that reveal some information hold back from readers other key documents that would aid in fuller understanding…
Public Records 2
Law, Open Government, Public Records 2, Wisconsin
A New Embrace That Should Have Been an Old Embrace
by JOHN ADAMS •
One reads that, in rejection of a prior administration’s approach, [Wisconsin Attorney General] Kaul Embraces Opens Records Policy: Wisconsin’s open records law applies to all records requests, big or small. But under former Attorney General Brad Schimel, the Wisconsin Department of Justice implemented a restrictive policy that limited access based on the number of potentially…
Law, Laws/Regulations, Liberty, Open Government, Public Records 2, School District
Closed Government is Expensive Government
by JOHN ADAMS •
Small communities – by definition places with small populations – have fewer people from whom residents can choose officials, elected or appointed. The rational response for these communities would be to be as open as possible, to make best use of their full populations, and to encourage newcomers. Pride, however, stands in the way of…
Newspapers, Open Government, Public Records 2
A Local Press Responsible for Its Own Decline
by JOHN ADAMS •
If it should be true that government sometimes overreaches – and it does – then part of the responsibility for that overreaching rests with a supine, wheedling press. One finds this locally as well as nationally: while one would expect an American publication to speak truth to power, instead one too often finds local publications…
Blogging, Law, Liberty, Litigation, Newspapers, Press, Public Records 2, Wisconsin
Public Records Requests as Pre-Litigation Actions
by JOHN ADAMS •
Wisconsinites submitting public records requests under the law (Wis. Stat. §§ 19.31 et seq.) may do so for any number of reasons (and need not declare a motivation of any sort). Not everyone will have the same aims in mind. For someone who’s a publisher (newspaper, magazine, blogger), however, a sensible way to look at…
Education, Good Ideas, Law, Newspapers, Open Government, Public Records 2, School District
The Best Record is a Recording
by JOHN ADAMS •
A video recording of the 5.28.19 Whitewater Unified School Board meeting is now online. It is, truly, a genuine good without merely particular ends. (Every regular and special board session should be online, by the board’s own policies. See Public Records Request, 5.20.19.) A recording of the full session confirms yet again that the best…
Law, Open Government, Public Records 2, School District
Public Records Request, 5.20.19
by JOHN ADAMS •
Update on the afternoon of 5.20.19: A email response from Dr. Elworthy and my reply — Dear John, I am in receipt of your records request regarding any audio or video recording of the 5.13.19 Whitewater Unified School District board meeting, including a recording of only part of the full session. The City of…
Business, CDA, City, Local Government, Open Government, Public Records 2
Public Records Request of 6.26.18 (Grocery)
by JOHN ADAMS •
Yesterday’s post addressed open government aspects of an unrecorded council meeting. See Public Records Request of 6.26.18 (Open Government). This post will consider a slide presentation from the unrecorded Whitewater Community Development Authority presentation of 6.19.18 on grocery store recruitment. Embedded immediately below is that slide presentation, and a link to the 5.19.16 Perkins supermarket…
CDA, Local Government, Open Government, Public Records 2
Public Records Request of 6.26.18 (Open Government)
by JOHN ADAMS •
The Whitewater Common Council agenda packet of 6.19.18 promised a “report and update on grocery store recruitment,” but that session was only partially recorded, with no video or audio record of the grocery presentation. In response, I submitted a public records request of 6.26.18, about three topics: 1. Any audio or video recording of the…
City, Law, Open Government, Public Records 2
Public Records Request of 6.26.18
by JOHN ADAMS •
Here’s a brief post to describe a public records request that I submitted to the City of Whitewater and Whitewater Community Development Authority on 6.26.18. The request – in summary – comprised three items: 1. Any audio or video recording of the 6.19.18 Common Council session, including a recording of only part of the full…