Transparency News 9/7/16
Wednesday, September 7, 2016
State and Local Stories
VCOG will be holding a webinar on FOIA basics on Oct. 4 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. The webinar will be streamed from the Tidewater Community College’s Chesapeake Campus, where there is seating for up to 40 people. The presentation (one of a planned four in the coming year) will be geared toward FOIA officers, but the public and press are welcome to sign up. Go to our EventBrite page for further details and registration information.
And many thanks to the folks at TCC for making the space,
equipment and webinar app access available to us.
equipment and webinar app access available to us.
• • •
The FOIA Council’s workgroup on personnel records is meeting today at 1:30 in House Room C at the General Assembly Building. All are welcome.
Tomorrow, the council’s subcommittee on records will meet at 10 a.m. in the same location.
FOIA Council subcommittee schedules
Tomorrow, the council’s subcommittee on records will meet at 10 a.m. in the same location.
FOIA Council subcommittee schedules
National Stories
Assistant Attorney General Amye Bensenhaver, a widely respected expert on Kentucky's open records and open meetings laws, has retired after being reprimanded for talking to a reporter without permission. Bensenhaver informed Attorney General Andy Beshear of her decision to retire in an Aug. 15 letter, saying, "I came to this decision under considerable duress. It is clear to me I cannot survive, much less thrive, in the current office climate, and I have similar concerns about the open records/meetings laws." Bensenhaver admits she violated the policy in speaking with John Nelson, former executive editor of The (Danville) Advocate-Messenger, who was reporting a story on the Kentucky Open Meetings Act. Nelson said on Thursday he was surprised that Bensenhaver was reprimanded because he said she did not say anything controversial in a short interview.
Courier-Journal
Editorials/Columns
Sunlight may be the best disinfectant, but too much sunlight will give you skin cancer. This is really the only one you need. The public unquestionably has an interest in how and why public policy is determined, but policymakers also have a legitimate interest in being able to speak frankly while they're doing the determining. This conflict of interests is genuine, and the answer is to address it, not to simply assume that everything everywhere should be open to the public. I'm not going to pretend to have a detailed policy to offer, but in general terms I think it's this: less transparency, but faster, more effective transparency.
Kevin Drum, Mother Jones
At first glance, you might not think that the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), a proposed global trade deal, and the Meadows Project in Abingdon have much in common. But in two critical ways, they do. First, both of these deals have been negotiated for years behind closed doors, in virtual secrecy. Which brings us to the second commonality between global trade agreements and local economic development deals: Big corporations are virtually always at the negotiating table, working behind closed doors to wrest concessions, secure taxpayer subsidies or alter rules or laws in ways that favor their bottom line. If transparency about the details of what big companies are seeking and what our government is offering would raise serious concerns among residents, how can we justify hiding such information in a representative democracy?
Anthony Flaccavento, Herald Courier
Assistant Attorney General Amye Bensenhaver, a widely respected expert on Kentucky's open records and open meetings laws, has retired after being reprimanded for talking to a reporter without permission. Bensenhaver informed Attorney General Andy Beshear of her decision to retire in an Aug. 15 letter, saying, "I came to this decision under considerable duress. It is clear to me I cannot survive, much less thrive, in the current office climate, and I have similar concerns about the open records/meetings laws." Bensenhaver admits she violated the policy in speaking with John Nelson, former executive editor of The (Danville) Advocate-Messenger, who was reporting a story on the Kentucky Open Meetings Act. Nelson said on Thursday he was surprised that Bensenhaver was reprimanded because he said she did not say anything controversial in a short interview.
Courier-Journal
Editorials/Columns
Sunlight may be the best disinfectant, but too much sunlight will give you skin cancer. This is really the only one you need. The public unquestionably has an interest in how and why public policy is determined, but policymakers also have a legitimate interest in being able to speak frankly while they're doing the determining. This conflict of interests is genuine, and the answer is to address it, not to simply assume that everything everywhere should be open to the public. I'm not going to pretend to have a detailed policy to offer, but in general terms I think it's this: less transparency, but faster, more effective transparency.
Kevin Drum, Mother Jones
At first glance, you might not think that the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), a proposed global trade deal, and the Meadows Project in Abingdon have much in common. But in two critical ways, they do. First, both of these deals have been negotiated for years behind closed doors, in virtual secrecy. Which brings us to the second commonality between global trade agreements and local economic development deals: Big corporations are virtually always at the negotiating table, working behind closed doors to wrest concessions, secure taxpayer subsidies or alter rules or laws in ways that favor their bottom line. If transparency about the details of what big companies are seeking and what our government is offering would raise serious concerns among residents, how can we justify hiding such information in a representative democracy?
Anthony Flaccavento, Herald Courier
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