Former North Carolina Governor Had Secret E-mail Account for State Business

In depositions stemming from a public records lawsuit against former North Carolina Governor Mike Easley, an aide testified that Easley kept a secret e-mail account and used it for state business. Former communications director Sherri Johnson said the e-mail address was "Nick Danger" spelled backwards in a likely reference to a fictional, satirical private eye. Johnson testified the backwards part was because Easley's learning disability left him writing backwards.

Public information officers also testified that the Easley administration instructed workers to delete e-mails and to use the telephone for sensitive issues.

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Footage of governor's office entrance denied in Sunshine request

Missouri Capitol Police have denied the News-Leader's request for video footage from cameras aimed at public entrances to the governor's office in the state Capitol. They cited an exemption passed after the 2001 terrorist attacks. "More specifically, showing areas which are covered by our cameras would reveal areas, (if any) which may be blind spots, thus compromising security at the Missouri Capitol," Capitol Police Capt. Paul Minze wrote in a July 31 response letter. The News-Leader submitted a formal appeal, which is pending. The newspaper is trying to verify whether a meeting between DNR Deputy Director Joe Bindbeutel and the governor took place. E-mails indicate it did, but the governor's office denied that such a meeting -- to discuss the high levels of E. coli in Lake of the Ozarks -- took place.

Missouri Capitol Police have cited a post-Sept. 11, 2001, terrorism exemption in the state's open records law in denying the News-Leader access to surveillance tape footage of the entrances of the governor's office.

Under a Sunshine Law request for public records, the newspaper sought to inspect archived video footage during various dates in June from cameras aimed at two public entrances in the governor's second floor office in the state Capitol in Jefferson City.

The News-Leader is seeking access to the video as part of its ongoing investigation into what role -- if any -- Nixon's office played in the Department of Natural Resources withholding a report for four weeks in June showing dangerously high levels of E. coli in Lake of the Ozarks.

More here.

Wash. organization asks governor's office to reconsider records denial

The Evergreen Freedom Foundation of Washington is asking Gov. Gregoire to reconsider the decision to deny releasing documents related to the governor's executive order concerning climate change. The EFF requested all documents related to the executive order's drafting and implementation, but the governor's office is withholding 48 documents and citing "executive privilege" and "deliberative process" as reasons. However, the EFF says there's no "executive privilege" exemption in the Public Records Act, and because the executive order has already been published the "deliberative" exemption doesn't apply.

Does the governor's executive privilege exempt her from the state's Public Records Act? Looks like we'll find out.

Climate change was a hot topic during the 2009 legislative session. Gov. Gregoire had requested legislation that ultimately died in the Senate. Not to be stopped, the governor issued Executive Order 09-05 to address climate change. Curious to see the backstory, EFF filed a request for documents related to the executive order's drafting and implementation. We've received many records, but the governor's office has refused to release 48 documents. The denial cites several reasons, including "executive privilege" and "deliberative process."

There's a problem with this denial. There is no "executive privilege" exemption in the Public Records Act. And once the executive order was published the "deliberation" exemption no longer applies. (This isn't the first time Gov. Gregoire has claimed the phantom "executive privilege" exemption.)

More here.

Staffers say S.C. governor used private e-mail for public business

Will Folks, former spokesman for South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, says he checked his private e-mail at least 10 times a day when working for the governor, McClatchy-Tribune News Service reported. Of the 3900 pages of Sanford's messages provided to The State newspaper, 174 e-mails were from his private account. But those didn't contain much discussion of state business. Current Sanford spokesman Joe Sawyer says the office doesn't use private e-mail to get around open records laws. Regardless, Ashley Landess, president of the South Carolina Policy Council, said her group will now ask other state government leaders to turn over private e-mails concerning public matters.

Former staffers for South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford said they routinely used private e-mail accounts to discuss sensitive political and policy decisions with Sanford.

The governor's office denies the practice was used to shield those communications from the public.

The state's Freedom of Information Act makes any discussion of state business on state computers a public document.

More here.

Nev. AG rules governor's personal e-mails aren't public

The Nevada attorney general's office decided that personal e-mails on Gov. Jim Gibbons' state computer are not pubic records, the AP reported. Reno Newspapers Inc. is seeking all e-mails Gibbons sent on his state computer and asked for a log of recipients, senders, subject matters and reasons public access was denied. The brief from the AG's office said the state has "no pre-litigation duty" to create the requested index.

The Nevada attorney general's office says personal e-mails on Gov. Jim Gibbons' state computer are not public records.

In a Nevada Supreme Court brief, the AG's office says personal messages or those not concerning public business are not subject to a public records request.

The filing is in response to an appeal by Reno Newspapers Inc., which is seeking all e-mails sent by Gibbons on his state computer from January to June 2008.

More here.

Gov. Kaine's schedule details his travels, sorta

Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine's office released a spreadsheet that details where Kaine was from Jan. 1 to July 18, The Roanoke Times reported. This is after his office had denied an FOI request from the GOP for this data. Although the schedule indicates that Kaine didn't travel farther than Washington, D.C., when the General Assembly was in session, the data doesn't distinguish between when travel was related to his position as governor and when it was related to his position as DNC chairman.

Wonder where Gov. Tim Kaine has been?

Republicans and media outlets have been asking that question for weeks, seeking details about Kaine’s schedule since he became chairman of the Democratic National Committee in January. The governor’s office on Tuesday released a spreadsheet that generally accounts for Kaine’s whereabouts every single day from Jan. 1 to July 18. Kaine’s office had previously denied a GOP Freedom of Information Act request for his travel details.

But Kaine spokeswoman Lynda Tran said the governor “has always responded to questions regarding his work and whereabouts and remains willing to respond to these inquiries.” She said the office will release similar details at the end of each month.

More here.

Sanford's travel records raise questions

Anderson Independent-Mail is questioning if Gov. Mark Sanford's trips (to China, Germany, Poland, London and Brazil) benefited South Caroline and why they were so over the top, considering that Sanford paints himself as a frugal man.

As evidenced by travel records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, Gov. Mark Sanford wasn’t as tight with taxpayer dollars as one might have expected for the man who slept on a cot in his congressional office and spoke so forcefully against accepting federal stimulus money for our state.

During his first campaign for governor, in fact, one of Sanford’s campaign points was criticism of travel expenses for other state officials, according to The Associated Press.

One has to wonder if the question of expenses would have even been raised had there not been so much dismay over how much some of those travels have cost the state in other ways. And how much they have cost him personally.

More here.

E-mail details how staff responded to Sanford's disappearance

FOI at Work!

The State received almost 600 pages of e-mail and phone records from Gov. Mark Sanford and hi staff during the governor's secret June 18-24 trip to Argentina to visit his lover. Staffers downplayed the governor's disappearance, and chief of staff, Scott English, made 15 calls to the governor's cell -- none of which were picked up. Also, several media organizations pleaded with Joel Sawyer, Sanford's communication director, for an exclusive -- and positive -- interview. (Also see Media Outlets Offered to Spin Sanford Story here.)

Gov. Mark Sanford’s chief of staff, Scott English, called the governor’s cell phones 15 times during the governor’s secret trip to Argentina to visit his lover last month. But the governor never picked up.

Meanwhile Sanford’s communications director, Joel Sawyer, worked to minimize the fact the governor had been out of touch with his staff for about four days.

Records released Monday show Sawyer juggled e-mails and media calls from around the nation, giving a consistent message that was later proven to be untrue.

More here.

La. governor's schedule still secret under new law

A Louisiana bill passed last week opens up some of the governor's documents previously exempted but still keeps most information under wraps, the AP reported. Sen. Robert Adley of Benton said the legislation doesn't improve access to the governor's records but takes the state "from sunshine to moonshine." The Times-Picayune of New Orleans and The Advocate of Baton Rouge editorialized against the bill which shields for six months some budget-related documents that were considered public record under the current law. The signed bill will allow some documents concerning the governor's travel to be public but will keep his schedule secret.

A bill that opens some but not all of the governor’s records to public scrutiny won final legislative passage in the Senate last week after weeks of debate and negotiations in which Gov. Bobby Jindal’s allies deflected efforts to make his schedule public or preserve his documents for the archives.

The bill, S.B. 278, will keep out of the public eye any governor’s office documents related to the “deliberative process” or intra-office communications among his top staffers. And it puts budgetary advice that state departments submit to the governor off-limits for six months.

Jindal pushed the bill as an alternative to others aimed at lifting a decades-old exemption the governor’s office has enjoyed from the state open-records law. The Senate voted 28-8 on June 24 to approve the bill that had already passed the House. The president of the Senate and the speaker of the House signed the measure June 25.

More here.

NFOIC Summit: Kentucky FOIA roundup

State-by-state updates at the 2009 NFOIC Summit: Terry Anderson of the University of Kentucky provided a summary of his state's FOI news.

• The state trying to revive the Kentucky Citizens for Open Government.
• The governor and attorney general are committed to open government. The chief justice just started a review of court rules on openness with the intention of opening them up more. Kentucky has a bigger problem with the legislature. The lawmakers don't seem committed.
• One legislator is determined to prevent the use of 911 calls in broadcasting.
• There is a legislative attempt to extend First Amendment rights to high school journalists.
• There also was a proposal to create a legislative investigative agency that would investigate other branches of government; however, its operations would have been exempted from public records.
  

Newspaper sues to learn if governor's permit was suspended

The Nevada Supreme Court heard argument on whether information related to Gov. Jim Gibbons' concealed gun permit should be released to the Reno Gazette-Journal, the Las Vegas Sun reported. Gibbons said he doesn't carry a concealed gun but has a permit. He surrendered his license in January of last year after a delay in getting the required training to carry one of his guns. He says no disciplinary action was taken, but a reporter heard that his weapon permit might have been suspended or revoked.

Gov. Jim Gibbons said today he never carries a concealed gun, even though he has a permit to do so.

And he said he once surrendered his weapons permit but he was never disciplined.

The Nevada Supreme Court has heard arguments on whether the Reno Gazette-Journal was entitled to information that may show the weapons permit of Gibbons was revoked or suspended. A district court has ruled the newspaper is not entitled to that information.

More here.

Legislature overturns ruling, keeps travel details secret

The Texas Legislature voted to overturn the ruling by the Third Court of Appeals that travel records for the governor's security detail should be released to newspapers, the Houston Chronicle reported. Sen. Jeff Wentworth said releasing the records could compromise security. Someone who wanted to harm a public official could find out how many bodyguards travel with Gov. Perry, where they stay and whether or not they travel in advance of the governor, he told the Chronicle. A costs summary for the security detail can, however, be disclosed.

The state House and Senate voted Sunday night to restrict access to travel vouchers for the security details that travel with the governor and other top elected officials, days after an appeals court ruled that the records should be turned over to Texas newspapers.

Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, said the provision would overturn an appeals court ruling last week that said the records should be disclosed to newspapers, including the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News, which sued to obtain the records.

The Senate had passed a bill to exempt the records from public disclosure, but Wentworth said the bill got “stuck in the House.” So lawmakers in both chambers voted, without opposition, to add the language to another public records bill.

More here.

Appeals court rules in favor of disclosing travel records

The Third Court of Appeals in Austin ruled in favor of Hearst Newspapers and Cox Newspapers, which sued to get the travel records of Gov. Rick Perry's security detail, the AP reported. The Texas Department of Public Safety can now appeal to the Texas Supreme Court.

An appeals court has rejected attempts to keep the travel records of Gov. Rick Perry's security detail secret.

The Third Court of Appeals in Austin ruled Friday the Texas Department of Public Safety has failed to show that releasing the records would be an invasion of privacy and create an imminent threat of physical danger.

Hearst Newspapers and Cox Newspapers sued to get the records. DPS can appeal Friday's ruling to the Texas Supreme Court.

More here.

La. governor backs loosely drawn bill

Opponents of the open records bill recently approved by the Louisiana Senate say the measure could cause more harm than good, the AP reported. Gov. Bobby Jindal approves of the bill, which is not as strong as previous versions and protects records relating to the "deliberative process" of the governor and his "internal staff."

Louisiana's Senate has approved legislation aimed at making more of the governor's records public but an opponent says the bill contains a loophole keeping many documents secret.

Gov. Bobby Jindal backed the bill, approved Wednesday, as an alternative to another measure that would have made the governor's office subject to the same open records law as other state agencies.

The bill, which goes next to the House, keeps under wraps records relating to the "deliberative process" of the governor and his "internal staff."

More here.

Iowa governor releases e-mails from private account

In response to an AP request, Iowa Gov. Chet Culver released some e-mails he sent during his first two years in office, when he used a private server from his campaign rather than a state e-mail account, the AP reported. The AP had requested e-mail communication from Culver and Lt. Gov. Patty Judge about right-to-work and prevailing wage issues. Iowa law does not specifically list e-mails as public records.

Iowa Gov. Chet Culver has released some e-mails he sent in his first two years in office using private computers and non-government servers, a move that follows criticism that he was using private e-mail accounts to dodge public-records law.

Freedom-of-information advocates called the decision a step forward for transparency in state government that counters a trend of public officials who deny access to electronic correspondence.

Joseph P. Sandler, a Washington, D.C.-based attorney for Culver's election campaign, said after researching the matter, he concluded that the governor's e-mails dealing with state business between addresses on non-government servers are public record. He made the decision in response to a public records request by The Associated Press.

More here.

Jindal approves failure of La. public records bill

A Louisiana House bill that would have removed an exemption that allows executive staff of the governor's office to keep records private failed 12-5, the Times-Picayune reported. Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration says it's not the concepts but the details that he disagrees with. His administration says it will back a similar Senate bill which provides more shielding on certain records.

With the backing of Gov. Bobby Jindal, a House committee killed a bill that would have opened nearly all records of the governor's executive office to public inspection, a move that the legislative sponsor said would bring real transparency to a state that touts the concept.

A similar bill passed overwhelmingly out of the same panel last year with little fanfare, far from the 12-5 defeat that Rep. Wayne Waddell, R-Shreveport, suffered today. Last year, his bill languished much later in the session after the Jindal administration got more active, saying it supports increased access to records but not in the manner Waddell wants.

The vote came a few hours after the Jindal administration effectively delayed action on another bill that would have expanded disclosure about the correlation between the governor's campaign contributors and his appointees to public posts. As with the records bill, the administration says the disagreement is not in the concept but in the details.

More here.

Why access to e-mail matters

E-mails obtained by a Massachusetts House reporter indicated that members of the governor's administration had orchestrated the hiring of state Sen. Marian Walsh "as payback for being an early supporter," inflated the salary of the state job in question and modified the job description to compensate for her lack of technical expertise, Bruce Mohl wrote in a column for The MetroWest Daily News. However, the records weren't provided by the governor, who insists that he is not covered by the Public Records Law. The records, which forced Walsh to drop out of the running, were provided by the Massachusetts Health and Educational Facilities Authority.

The emails that derailed state Sen. Marian Walsh's bid for a high-paying state authority job saw the light of day only because of the Massachusetts Public Records Law. It was one of those rare instances where transparency trumped politics as usual, where a law designed to reveal the inner workings of government actually worked.

The state's Public Records Law is generally weak and ineffective. Vast swaths of state government are exempt from the law and many documents are shielded from its reach by a growing list of legislatively approved exceptions. Many government officials ignore the law and others subvert it by improperly withholding documents or charging excessive fees to produce information. Which is why the Walsh case is so refreshing.

A State House reporter filed a public records request on March 20 for emails and other documents related to the senator's controversial appointment. Seven days later he received information contradicting the public statements of Walsh, the Patrick administration, and the Massachusetts Health and Educational Facilities Authority, where Walsh was slated to become assistant executive director.

More here.

Ill. agency issued pay raises despite budget woes

FOI at Work!

The Illinois FOIA wasn't enforced much under former Gov. Blagojevich, so the Northwest Herald's requests for payroll information weren't filled until recently. The records show that despite budget shortages, the Illinois Department of Transportation awarded raises averaging $6,000, which was on top of cost-of-living increases that were awarded to all IDOT employees on Jan. 1.

Should anyone need proof why the Illinois Freedom of Information Act is important, we offer Exhibit A: the exposure of excessive pay raises granted to high-ranking officials in the Illinois Department of Transportation.

Should anyone need proof why strengthening the Illinois Freedom of Information Act is even more important, we offer the identical reason.

IDOT awarded raises that averaged $6,000 to top employees in mid-January – during a worsening recession and unprecedented state budget crisis, no less. The pay hikes were in addition to cost-of-living increases that all IDOT workers received Jan. 1.

More here.

Anticipated bill would open La. governor's records

When WWL-TV requested Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal's 2008 calendar, his office said the state Constitution protects that data as well as his letters, e-mails and writings. An anticipated bill would change that. Jindal opposed a similiar bill last year, but public pressure may prevent that from occuring this year.

A bill that would make more of Governor Bobby Jindal’s records available to the public is expected to be introduced at this year’s legislative session in Baton Rouge.

It’s similar to a measure that Jindal opposed last year, but one that some lawmakers say would put him on a level playing field with other elected officials who are required to respond to public records requests.

In January, Eyewitness News made a request for Jindal’s 2008 calendar, but his office rejected the request, saying that the Louisiana Constitution protects that information.

More here.

E-mails reveal divide over same-sex marriage bill

The AP used an FOI request to obtain e-mails addressed to Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas, who pledged to veto a bill that would make Vermont the third state to allow same-sex marriages. The messages clearly indicate what an "emotional, divisive issue" this has become.

Some called him a homophobe. Some accused him of spreading hatred. Some thanked him, or applauded him for showing "backbone" in the face of pressure from gay rights advocates.

In the first two days after he pledged to veto a same-sex marriage bill, Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas' mailbag and e-mail inbox runneth over, with about 1,500 letters and messages pouring in.

More here.