City slowly releases payroll records

The San Jose Mercury News filed a public records request for the 2008 payroll records for all city workers in order to create public employee compensation databases. All jurisdictions provided the full records except for Watsonville, which is releasing information "as it becomes available." Watsonville initially just released records on the highest paid police officers and firefighters. It hurried to released the names and salaries of other employees who made more than $100,000 because some thought police and firefighters were being targeted. The city attorney says Watsonville is only legally bound to release records for employees with salaries of $100,000 or more.

City officials have released the names and salaries of 27 employees who made more than $100,000 in 2008.

The release came late Friday, a day after the Sentinel published the names of police and firefighters who earned more than $100,000 in 2008, a story that sparked controversy in City Hall corridors and in the community.

On April 27, the Sentinel made a public records request for the 2008 pay records for all city workers as part of a countywide project to create public employee compensation databases. The city and county of Santa Cruz databases are available on the Sentinel's Web site, santacruzsentinel.com.

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.

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Nearly $130,000 for 13 days of work?

FOI at Work!
The Times Union in Albany, N.Y., used an FOI request to uncover that the police union president only worked 13 days in 2008. Many of those days were holidays, when the city had to pay him time and a half plus regular pay. When he's away on union business, the city must pay a replacement commander overtime.

Thirteen days.

That's the number of days police union President Lt. Robert Hamilton worked for the city in 2008 when he grossed $129,908 with overtime and retroactive pay, according to city financial records obtained by the Times Union under a Freedom of Information request.

Hamilton spent most of the rest of his time on union business, according to department attendance sheets. Police officials have previously said an officer at the top of the pay scale earned, on average, about $10,000 in back pay resulting from last year's contract settlement, which is included in Hamilton's gross earnings.

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Records show nearly every Long Island Rail Road employee gets disability pay

The New York Times analyzed federal records to find that practically ever L.I.R.R. employee, even those with desk jobs, applied for and received disability pay. Apparently, most are able-bodied until they retire. However, the Railroad Retirement Board rarely rejects a disability claim.

To understand what it’s like to work on the railroad — the Long Island Rail Road — a good place to start is the Sunken Meadow golf course, a rolling stretch of state-owned land on Long Island Sound.

During the workweek, it is not uncommon to find retired L.I.R.R. employees, sometimes dozens of them, golfing there. A few even walk the course. Yet this is not your typical retiree outing.

These golfers are considered disabled. At an age when most people still work, they get a pension and tens of thousands of dollars in annual disability payments — a sum roughly equal to the base salary of their old jobs. Even the golf is free, courtesy of New York State taxpayers.

With incentives like these, occupational disabilities at the L.I.R.R. have become a full-blown epidemic.

More here.

UPDATE: Agents raid office in L.I.R.R. Disability Inquiry; The New York Times

Open government benefits citizens as well as media

Brian Cooper with The Telegraph Herald of Iowa wrote an interesting reflection on recent legislative victories for open meetings and open records laws. Perhaps the most interesting part is that half of the examples he discusses were the result of "everyday citizens," not the media.

The Iowa Freedom of Information Council's annual meeting takes place Friday in Des Moines, so it has me reflecting on the status of public access to government.

The bottom line: It could be worse, but it could be a whole lot better.

The council, of which I am an executive committee member and past president, recently published an update on various legal actions involving government access.

There are some victories -- but at a cost.

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Newspaper challenges denial of payroll records

The Times Union requested payroll information subject to New York's Freedom of Information Law; however, the state argues that the requested data cannot be released without creating a new file that does not contain birth dates, social security numbers, phone numbers and addresses.

The Times Union sued state Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli Wednesday, challenging his refusal to release state payroll data under a public information request.

Attorneys for Hearst Corp., the newspaper's parent company, filed the suit in state Supreme Court in Albany, requesting the data, as well as costs and attorney fees.

In court papers, the newspaper questioned the comptroller's refusal to release payroll information sought earlier this year by J. Robert Port, the Times Union's senior editor for investigations. Port filed a request under the state's Freedom of Information Law, seeking an electronic copy of payroll tables.

More here.