Galveston Community Organizer Seeks to Change City Government Form

Galveston community activist David Stanowski is starting the Galveston Open Government Project to ferret out corruption at the city manager level.  Stanowski also wants to change the city's form of government from a city manager form to a mayoral form of government.  Stanowski is soliciting funding from community members as well as national foundations and organizations.

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Citizens make greater use of FOIA but face obstacles

Kim Petitt considers herself a watchdog and is a member of the Concerned Citizens of Coconut Creek, the Sun Sentinel reported. She was appalled, however, when her request for the city manager's e-mail records and the city's credit card spending records cost her $170. The Commission of Open Government Reform is recommending the removal of the provision for "special service charges" related to requests that require "extensive use" of resources or personnel.

Kim Petitt, a Coconut Creek resident since 1997, recently had a civic awakening.

Dismayed by a proposed big-box retail development that she thought would hurt her neighborhood and disenchanted with the city's leadership, she decided to start fighting City Hall.

"The City Commission seems more in lock step with what the city manager and developers want, not what the citizens want," said Petitt, 47. "I said, 'Wait a minute, this is my city. I'm going to take it back.'"

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Ore. professor becomes next citizen asking states to follow Obama's lead

University of Oregon economics professor Bill Harbaugh called for Oregon Attorney General John Kroger to specify how long state officials have to respond to public records requests. Most states have a five-day standard but Oregon law doesn't mention a deadline.

Oregon Attorney General John Kroger is being urged to change the way state agencies respond to public information requests.

University of Oregon economics professor Bill Harbaugh says the state's public records laws are "horrible," but can be fixed immediately.

In an op-ed published Friday on the left-leaning blog Blue Oregon, Harbaugh said just as U.S. President Barack Obama overhauled the federal Freedom of Information Act, Oregon's attorney general can similarly ease access to the state's public documents.

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Innovation module helps citizen journalists understand open government laws

Media law experts across the country contributed to and are featured in "The Citizen Journalist's Guide to Open Government." The module includes an interactive map, video interviews, quizzes, animation and a blog.

“The Citizen Journalist’s Guide to Open Government,“ an extensive multimedia e-learning module to help new media makers understand how to obtain public records and get into public meetings, launched today on the Knight Citizen News Network (www.kcnn.org). The guide features a unique interactive map that tells citizens how they can locate open-government information on each of the 50 state Web sites. Easy-to-find information on either the Governor’s or State Attorney General’s Web site gets a thumbs-up ranking. Hard-to-find information earns a thumbs down. Users can:

• Obtain local, state and federal government records.
• Appeal when a records request is denied.
• Take steps if they are excluded from a meeting.
• Learn what’s allowed in their state.
• Understand access to court proceedings.
• Link to more information.

“As more and more everyday people cover local news and information, this guide gives them a unique road map to resources and information that traditional journalists use every day,“ says Jan Schaffer, director of J-Lab, which administers the Knight Citizen News Network (KCNN) with funding from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. J-Lab is a center of American University’s School of Communication.

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Obama selects Google manager as Director of Citizen Participation

Katie Jacobs Stanton, who has worked for Google and Yahoo, has been selected to help President Obama "create a 21st century government." The Technology, Innovation and Government Reform Working Group has already split into four teams to examine how innovation can be applied to government, national priorities, sciences and civil society.

According to reports, President Obama has selected Google (and former Yahoo) group product manager Katie Jacobs Stanton as the country's first "Director of Citizen Participation."

Citizen Participation has been a key phrase in Obama's technological policy vernacular since the start of his campaign. From campaign literature: "Barack Obama will use the most current technological tools available to make government less beholden to special interest groups and lobbyists and promote citizen participation in government decision-making."

Part of this approach included the development of the Technology, Innovation and Government Reform (TIGR) Working Group, a team of more than 30 tech industry professionals set to "create a 21st century government that is more open and effective; leverages technology to grow the economy, create jobs, and solve our country's most pressing problems; respects the integrity of and renews our commitment to science; and catalyzes active citizenship and partnerships in shared governance with civil society institutions."

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