3 things to know about a key FOIA reform bill making its way through Congress

From Poynter A bill that would make significant changes to the Freedom of Information Act got a lift this morning when it was approved by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. This legislation represents the biggest amendment to America’s federal open records act since 2007 and comes months after a similar proposal failed to clear Congress near the end of last year.

Here’s what you need to know:

What’s it called? The FOIA Oversight and Implementation Act of 2015, or, if you prefer formal designations, H.R. 653.

What does it do? There are a number of provisions in the bill. Among them:

• Shines a light on old government deliberations. Want to know how the government made decisions in the midst of the Cuban Missile Crisis? This bill would modify a provision in the Freedom of Information Act that allows government agencies to withhold inter-agency memos and letters from the public, opening up records or information created more than 25 years ago.

  “If the only reason the government would deny a FOIA request is internal deliberations, if those internal deliberations are over 25 years old, then the government could no longer withhold that information,” said Rick Blum, director of the Sunshine in Government Initiative.

• Creates a presumption of openness. The bill would write into law the idea that government agencies should err on the side of disclosure when faced with a Freedom of Information Act request. This point has been interpreted differently by different presidential regimes who have directed officials to behave differently when members of the public ask for records, Blum said. The bill establishes a legal standard which requires agencies to justify a reason for refusing a request.
• Makes FOIA oversight more independent. This bill would take steps to ensure the autonomy of the Office for Government Information Services, which acts as a kind of ombudsman for the Freedom of Information Act. The office, which was created in 2007 to improve communication between requesters and federal agencies, periodically makes recommendations about how FOIA could be improved.These recommendations are currently submitted to federal agencies to ensure that they’re in line with the policy of the current presidential administration, Blum said. The proposed bill would allow these reports to be submitted directly to congressional committees and the president without review from any other federal agencies. This will likely make the FOIA ombudsman more transparent and candid about ways the act could be improved.

What happens next? A similar bill, S. 337, has been approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee. For the FOIA reform to become law, both measures must be passed by their respective houses and any differences between the two pieces of legislation must be resolved. The bill must then be signed into law by the president.

Mason council meeting legal?

From The Cincinnati Enquirer The city (of Mason) may have violated its own charter and state law when it met in a special meeting Tuesday to vote on a 15-year, $34 million tax incentive package for consumer product giant Procter & Gamble.

Legal experts say the city's special, mid-afternoon meeting held on a day's notice violated Ohio's Open Meetings Act because officials failed to provide the required notice indicating the purpose of the meeting, as well as the matters to be considered.

Mason's charter and state law require notices of special meetings to state the purpose of the meeting, and limits discussion to only those issues specified. Mason's charter further allows for discussion of an unlisted topic if five members of council agree to consider it.

On Monday, an administrative assistant with the city sent out a notice that Mason City Council would meet for a special meeting at 3 p.m. Tuesday. The notice did not specify why officials called the meeting or what they planned to discuss.

When an Enquirer reporter inquired about the meeting's purpose, the city staff member advised only that council anticipated going immediately into executive session. Under Ohio law, executive sessions are secret and not required to be recorded or minutes taken.

When council met Tuesday, it immediately adjourned into executive session, then came out and held the vote on the ordinance approving the financial package offered to P&G for its $300 million investment to expand its Mason Business Center.

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Jack Greiner column: Ferguson, Clinton show need for sunshine

By Jack Greiner, The Cincinnati Enquirer Jack Greiner is a lawyer with Graydon Head in Cincinnati and represents Enquirer Media in First Amendment and media issues.

My earliest memory of the month of March was one of disappointment. When I was about 5 or so, I remember my mom saying something about March "coming in like a lion." At that tender age, I was not intimately familiar with the concept of metaphors, so on March 1, I spent an inordinate amount of time looking out my window to see a lion wandering the streets of Cheviot. None appeared. That was no doubt a good thing, but to an abnormally impressionable kid like me, it was a letdown.

As I grew older March meant spring break. And while I didn't have the means to travel to Florida, it was still nice to get a break from my studies. Of course, as a sports fan, March has always meant the NCAA tournament and the imminent arrival of Opening Day. Doesn't get much better than that.

But more recently, I've come to see March as the arrival of Sunshine Week – the time when we consider the importance of open government. While it may not pack all the drama of March Madness, government transparency is worth a commemoration.

And while we tend to think of the concept of open government as an American value (and it is) the concept is a little older than that. Like by over 2000 years. Here's what the New Testament has to say about it: "For every one who practices evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his works be reproved. John 3:19-20."

That passage really gets to the heart of the matter, doesn't it? Bad things happen in private. Even in our current climate of oversharing on social media, have you ever seen a public official announce "I'm about to take a bribe. OMG"? Or how about a cop saying "I'm proud to say I've hassled black drivers whenever I pulled them over. LOL." I haven't either. Not everything that happens behind closed doors is bad, but bad things almost always happen behind closed doors.

For that reason, Ohio, like most states, has statutes that require public records be available for public inspection and public meetings be open to the public. And while the Apostle John didn't write the laws, his admonition lies at the heart of the laws. The public, frequently via the press has the right to observe what its elected and appointed officials are up to. This is so for at least two compelling reasons. First, access allows us to expose and punish wrong doing. The appalling findings by the Justice Department's investigation in Ferguson relied in large part on records. Access to that information ensures guilty parties are punished and abuses are corrected.

But perhaps just as important as the ability to use public records to look back is the power to prevent corruption in the first place. I had an economics professor at Miami University who said once: "Locks don't keep crooks out, they just keep honest people honest." Our Sunshine Acts act like that metaphorical lock. If our elected and appointed officials know their actions are subject to public view (including emails, Hillary) they are less likely to abuse their office. To use John's words, if public officials' works are subject to being "reproved" those officials are more likely to behave.

So let us use this March week to celebrate sunshine and resolve to keep those laws strong and vibrant. The Bible tells us so, after all.

Editorial: Sunshine Week highlights need for greater government transparency

Editorial from The Plain Dealer This is not Sunshine Week because the gray skies are parting and the temperatures have begun to rise. It's because this is the time of the year designated to promote transparency in government. Clearly, some of that is needed.

The more enlightened a society becomes, the more government officials should realize the importance of open meetings and open records.

Sadly, that hasn't always been the case, as recent events at the federal, state and local levels have shown.

The Obama administration has been criticized frequently for its failure to release records under the Freedom of Information Act. The Associated Press recently reported that, in 2014, the federal government wound up reversing on appeal, at least in part, one in three of the FOIA requests it initially denied.

And in Ohio, a new law misguidedly keeps the names of lethal-injection drug providers secret under the dubious claim that nobody would provide the drugs if their names were made public.

Condemned inmates pressing an appeal of their sentences and the general public concerned about the costs, quality and efficacy of drugs used in capital punishment have a right to know this information.

And in South Euclid, five members of its City Council recently censured two of their fellow council members for publicly discussing, as they asserted, a matter brought to their attention in executive session that concerned the hiring of the mayor's son by a law firm doing business with the city. The two reprimanded council members believed rightly that the matter should have been discussed openly.

That incident highlights the potential for government boards of all stripes in Ohio to abuse the use of executive sessions to avoid political embarrassment or some other undesired fallout from public disclosure.

As Dennis Hetzel, director of the Ohio Newspaper Association, suggests, rather than err on the side of transparency, government officials too often search for reasons to keep information secret.

Still, some are doing it right. Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel recently put Ohio's expenditures online at OhioCheckbook.com and Ohio Auditor Dave Yost continues to believe that he should be allowed to audit JobsOhio, the state's quasi-private development arm that relies on state liquor revenue for its funding.

Government officials are great at coming up with reasons to hide what they do, and they often claim that it's for the greater good of the people, but in very few instances can that case be convincingly made.

Justices say prosecutor can’t shield 911 call from Ohio newspaper

Editor's Note: The Ohio Coalition for Open Government filed an amicus brief in support of the Enquirer's lawsuit. From The Columbus Dispatch

A recording of a 911 dispatcher’s outgoing call is a public record, the Ohio Supreme Court said yesterday in a ruling that criticized a prosecutor for trying to keep a newspaper from hearing it.The court’s 6-1 decision came in the case of a southwestern Ohio dispatcher’s return call in 2012 to a man who then confessed to fatally stabbing his stepfather.The ruling was a victory for The Cincinnati Enquirer, which sued Butler County Prosecutor Michael Gmoser over his contention that the call was a confidential investigatory record. Gmoser also argued the recording’s release could affect defendant Michael Ray’s right to a fair trial.

Justice Judith L. French, writing for the majority, said Gmoser failed to show that releasing the record would violate the U.S. Constitution or state law.

French said there’s no evidence the dispatcher returned the call and asked questions to prepare for a criminal proceeding. As a result, the recording could not become evidence just because it moved from the dispatcher’s office “to the prosecutor’s file,” French said.

French also said The Enquirer should be awarded attorneys’ fees and ordered a lower-court hearing to determine the amount.

Not only did Gmoser not have authority to withhold the call, he made things worse by asking a judge for a protective order keeping the call from being made public.

That action forced the newspaper into “a two-front war” as it sought the recording while defending itself against the protective order, French said.

“These tactics do not demonstrate good faith by the prosecutor’s office,” the justice wrote.

Justice Paul Pfeifer, who has argued in the past for limits on releases of 911 calls, said the recording was part of the prosecutor’s evidence and shouldn’t be made public.

Ray, 20, is serving a 15-year sentence for murder, according to prison records.

Updated Sunshine laws manual now online

From The Columbus Dispatch The updated owner’s guide to public-records and open-meeting laws in Ohio was released today by the office of Attorney General Mike DeWine.

The so-called "Yellow Book" is updated annually and released during Sunshine Week to reflect changes in law and court rulings during the past year.

“The ‘Yellow Book’ is published to help requesters understand their rights and for government agencies to understand their obligations under Ohio’s Sunshine Laws,” DeWine said in a release. “ Knowing what is required when you submit or receive a records request is the easiest way to eliminate records disputes and to promote open, transparent government.”

You can download a copy of Ohio Sunshine Laws: An Open Government Resource Manual from the AG's website.

It's one of the best resources available for those who want to know and exercise their rights to government access.

If denied records, quoting from the Sunshine manual is pretty powerful tool in pressing your argument for records that have been delayed or denied.

DeWine’s office's also offers a voluntary public-records mediation program that gives citizens and local governments alike a chance to settle disputes by working with state lawyers well versed in Sunshine laws.

Other online resources include a series of informational videos on the state's Sunshine laws and a three-hour version of the open-government training required of all public officeholders and available to the public.

Editorial: Sunshine Week is a reminder that government belongs to us

Editorial from The Vindicator

Almost everyone knows about Groundhog Day on Feb. 2. Far fewer know what comes about six weeks later, whether or not Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow: Sunshine Week.

To be fair, Phil has been around a lot longer. Sunshine Week, a project of the American Society of News Editors, is just 10 years old. But to those who care about how government operates, Sunshine Week should be important 52 weeks of the year.

Open records and public meetings laws have been called “Sunshine Laws” for decades. Sunshine is an apt metaphor because good government grows only when the light shines on what elected officials and government bureaucrats are doing.

Ohio has had a strong sunshine law on the books since the 1970s, but over the years it has been weakened more often than strengthened by amendments and court rulings. Last year we bemoaned an Ohio Supreme Court ruling that made it easier for recalcitrant public servants to avoid having to pay damages after blocking access to public records.

This year, while all the news is not good, it must be noted that Treasurer Josh Mandel has the Online Checkbook up and running, which provides easy access to information about how Ohio is spending the billions of dollars it collects from taxpayers. Log on to OhioCheckbook.com.

Attorney general’s seminars

Attorney General Mike DeWine continues to conduct seminars around the state for public officials and any interested individuals on what Ohio’s sunshine laws require, how officials must follow the law and what people can do when government falls short of being open.

And just the other day, Auditor Dave Yost announced a new program aimed at helping people resolve public records complaints without having to hire a lawyer. That’s an important advance, especially given the Supreme Court ruling we mentioned earlier.

Yost, Mandel and DeWine are all Republicans.

That said, it doesn’t take much effort to think of examples over recent months that prove too many local officials still haven’t grasped the essential concept of Ohio’s Sunshine Laws: That when there is doubt, the law should be liberally construed toward openness.

That principle is clearly stated in the law, and yet time and again officeholders, officials and employees chose to go the opposite way. They take the position that someone asking for a record must prove they are entitled to it, though the law clearly states that someone seeking a record need not give a reason and need not identify himself or herself.

Sunshine requests have been in the local news in the last month after The Vindicator requested salary information for employees in former Mahoning County Auditor Michael Sciortino’s office, for instance. Or when the paper requested information after the Youngstown Board of Education summarily replaced two representatives to the Academic Distress Commission.

Nationally, news organizations are in constant battle with the federal government for access to information that should be made readily available to the people.

Gary Pruitt, president and CEO of the Associated Press, says it’s getting harder and more expensive to gain access to public records.

One example:

“A few months ago, the Treasury Department sent us 237 pages in its latest response to our requests regarding Iran trade sanctions. Nearly all 237 pages were completely blacked out, on the basis that they contained businesses’ trade secrets.

“When was our request made? Nine years ago.”

After five years of trying to get access to files covering Hillary Rodham Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state, the AP finally filed suit.

White House pettiness

President Barack Obama promised transparency when he came to office, but clearly hasn’t delivered on matters large and small. As an example of how petty things can become, Pruitt tells this story:

“In government emails that AP obtained in reporting about who pays for Michelle Obama’s expensive dresses, the National Archives and Records Administration blacked out one sentence repeatedly, citing a part of the law intended to shield personal information such as Social Security numbers or home addresses.

“The blacked-out sentence? The government slipped and let it through on one page of the redacted documents: ‘We live in constant fear of upsetting the WH (White House).’”

Public servants — from local clerks to the president of the United States — have to learn that sometimes they are going to be embarrassed by the release of public documents. Their sense of fear or anger or frustration does not trump the law.

And though we say it often, it bears repeating: Public records and open meetings laws may be most often pursued by the press, but the laws are there for the use of everyone who wants to hold government accountable. The sun shouldn’t shine from only one direction.

Attorney: South Range Board of Education violated state Sunshine Laws

From The Vindicator

The South Range Board of Education violated state law by appointing Amy White to its board, the attorney representing The Vindicator said today.

The board unanimously approved White’s nomination Monday night, as a gold and black metallic nameplate for her sat before the vacant seat on the board.

While the board met in executive session last week to discuss the replacement, “A public body may not take any formal action, such as voting or otherwise reaching a collective decision, in an executive session. Any formal action taken in an executive session is invalid,” states the Ohio Sunshine Laws.

Ironically, this is Sunshine Week in Ohio, and Attorney General Mike DeWine issued the 2015 edition of “Ohio Sunshine Laws: An Open Government Resource Manual” on Monday. It is available in .pdf form at Vindy.com.

“The whole circumstance sounds to me that there would be clear evidence that the decision was already made, and taking a formal vote before the public was just theater,” said Atty. David Marburger for the newspaper. The nameplate itself, he argued, is “just the clearest evidence. ... The most troubling part is what that represents."

Ohio ranked No. 1 in nation for transparency in government spending

From The Columbus Dispatch After trailing other states, Ohio is now at the top of the list for transparency in government spending.

The U.S. Public Interest Research Group announced today that Ohio jumped to No. 1 after being ranked 46th last year.

Ohio received a perfect score of 100 — the highest score the group has ever awarded. Ohio’s jump to the top was the largest single improvement since the group started the ranking six years ago.

The top ranking comes after Treasurer Josh Mandel’s office unveiled OhioCheckbook.com, which tracks spending by all government agencies in the state, in December.

Mandel said the reason his office launched the site was so Ohio could “be leader, not a basement dweller.”

“My ultimate goal here is to help set off a national race for transparency,” Mandel said.

The website has about 112 million transactions going back to fiscal year 2008 through fiscal year 2014. The treasurer’s office plans to eventually update the site monthly, but isn’t ready to do that yet.

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Dennis Hetzel commentary: Ohio’s public-records law is a real mess

By Dennis Hetzel, published in The Columbus Dispatch and other Ohio papers

In 1963, the Ohio General Assembly fashioned the state’s first open-records law. It took a broad approach to defining public records, with a strong presumption that almost all records kept by government would be open to citizens.

The law was exactly two paragraphs long. It contained only a few exceptions.

How times change. Ohio attorney Breanne Parcels noted in a 2012 article called “Bring Back the Bite” in the University of Dayton Law Review that today’s statute “has ballooned to 10 standard 8 ½ by 11 ½ inch pages.” Today, it’s even longer. With the recent addition of new secrecy to the lethal-injection process, we now have 29 enumerated exceptions plus 100 or more peppered throughout the Ohio statutes.

The definition of what is a government record also has gotten narrower since 1963, and something can’t be an open record if it isn’t a public record. The same problem applies to our open-meetings laws, as the definition of “open to the public” keeps getting tighter.

In other words, a vast amount of government activity in Ohio is invisible to citizens.

How did this happen? That’s a good question to ponder during Sunshine Week, an annual, national effort to promote open government.

Despite the stirring words in our statutes about the “presumption of openness,” our officials frequently give greater weight to reasons to keep matters secret.

In recent years, the Ohio Supreme Court has made it nearly impossible to:

• Collect attorney fees in a public records case, even if you’re right and the government broke the law.

• Challenge the government’s claim that it won’t give you records because your request is “ overly broad.”

• Go to a government meeting for “information gathering” or “fact finding” unless the body decides it’s OK for you to be there.

• See criminal case files of closed cases unless the defendant is deceased, which doesn’t help someone much if they have been wrongfully convicted.

• Get spending detail from quasi-public agencies or privatized services that handle vast amounts of public money.

To be fair, in some cases the courts have dealt with language that could be improved. That is where legislative will comes into play. The digital age also creates both problems and opportunities that couldn’t be anticipated in 1963.

Kent State University recently provided an example of how officials exploit these trends to hide information.

The Akron Beacon-Journal reported on March 6 that KSU is paying marketing consultants $101,750 for marketing and promotional services. According to the newspaper, Kent essentially ceded its responsibility for open records to a Philadelphia consulting firm by agreeing in a contract that the school would notify the company of any records request, and that the firm would be able to redact any “proprietary” information under a trade secrets exemption.

Irony alert: One of the blacked-out items was the amount of time for which the company has to review and redact items. Other “trade secrets” include travel costs.

Kent State’s answer should have been this: “We take seriously our responsibilities under the law as a public university, so we will be seeking other bidders who are more concerned about public transparency.”

Well, let’s close on a positive note.

State Treasurer Josh Mandel has unveiled a website, OhioCheckbook.com, which might be the best effort in America to help citizens track state government spending at a detailed level.

State Auditor Dave Yost just announced a program to help citizens dealing with denials of records requests. In many cases, his office will issue a ruling without a person having to hire a lawyer and go to court. This is a major development that levels the playing field for citizens and builds on a free mediation program for local disputes offered by Attorney General Mike DeWine. You can learn more at Yost’s website, OhioAuditor.gov.

Those examples are good news, but they should be more than refreshing exceptions.

As fate would have it, legislators have a great opportunity right now by injecting real transparency into how Ohio’s charter schools are spending nearly $1 billion in public money. Please consider telling them that.

Dennis Hetzel is the executive director of the Ohio Newspaper Association and president of the Ohio Coalition for Open Government in Columbus.

Benjamin Marrison: Public records an invaluable resource

By Benjamin Marrison, The Columbus Dispatch This has been a banner week for public records in Ohio.

On Monday, the New York attorney general’s office announced that it had reached an agreement with the Big Three credit-reporting agencies to improve the accuracy of their reports, quickly correct errors and take steps to protect consumers from lingering, erroneous medical debt. This is a big deal.

On Tuesday, the Ohio Supreme Court announced sweeping, unprecedented changes to the broken guardianship system in the Buckeye State, creating uniform standards for those who manage the affairs of those unable to care for themselves. This is a big deal, too.

Investigations by The Dispatch — “Credit Scars” and “Unguarded” — led to both of these major reforms.

At the root of our investigations were public records — documents that lay bare what really happened in the credit industry and to the defenseless wards of court-appointed guardians.

Never forget the value of public records: Those pieces of paper, emails and other documents that governmental entities keep are a type of DNA that explain how and why things happen in government, in our schools, in our courts and elsewhere.

Without our ability to access court documents, we would not have been able to gather the information necessary to publish our five-day series in May that exposed troublesome flaws in the state’s guardianship system. The system is so unregulated that it allowed guardians to avoid ever having to visit those for whom they were responsible, and it enabled some guardians, including some attorneys, to fleece wards through questionable billing.

One of them has been indicted on multiple felony charges.

Public records allowed us to report that some 65,000 of Ohio’s most vulnerable residents are trapped in a system that allowed unscrupulous guardians to rob them of their money, dignity and freedom. The series, available at Dispatch.com/unguarded, revealed that anyone can be a guardian — even a felon — and make decisions about a person’s medical care and finances.

Public records were the building blocks of our reporting that exposed giant holes in the system — one that a committee appointed by the Ohio Supreme Court spent more than eight years studying before finally acting last week. I’m confident that our investigation sparked this long-delayed action.

Also because of the series, the General Assembly is considering legislation to better regulate guardians and protect wards.

The agreement between New York and the giant credit-reporting agencies — Experian, Equifax and TransUnion — stems from our 2012 series, which illuminated the plight of thousands of Americans who, through no fault of their own, have been harmed by flawed reports.

We reviewed nearly 30,000 complaints filed with the Federal Trade Commission and attorneys general in 24 states.

Our reporters made startling discoveries: an 18-year-old who never owned a credit card was in the system as having racked up $150,000 in credit-card and other debt; a woman’s credit information was somehow linked to that of a terrorist; a man was dead to the credit agencies, even though he was still ticking, yet unable to prove otherwise.

The series was replete with such examples. It was so thorough that it prompted Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine to launch an investigation with 30 other attorneys general into how the Big Three credit-reporting agencies were ignoring or mishandling consumer complaints. One result of that investigation was the New York attorney general’s agreement.

But for our ability to scour public records across the country and analyze the information, we would not have been able to reach such firm conclusions in our investigation, available online at Dispatch.com/credit.

Public records are extremely important to all of us, not just the media.

They give you access to the inner-workings of government. They can help explain why and how decisions were made. We use these records, on your behalf, to explain what’s happening and to shine a bright light on issues that need public scrutiny.

It’s why state legislators and Congress have created laws making certain records public. Unfortunately, those same lawmakers have tended in recent years to chip away at your right to know with increasing frequency.

In my view, our legislators too often cave to special interests who want to shield information from you. Or they use a mallet to address a problem that would best be addressed with a scalpel.

They forget that the information belongs to you. You pay the bills.

It’s Sunshine Week in America, the time once a year when news organizations spotlight what’s happening to our collective right to know.

The importance of public records was very obvious here this week with these two major developments. It’s worth remembering the next time someone who works for you in the legislature or Congress considers an action that would leave you in the dark.

Editorial: Blacked out, or the eroding commitment to open records across the state

Editorial by the Akron Beacon Journal

Kent State University finds itself in a familiar place, and that is not a reference to the strong performance of its men’s basketball team this season. The university has embarked on a major project, in this instance, developing a strategic vision, and it has proved less than forthcoming about the public expense involved.

Or to put it another way, a publicly supported institution is leaving the public in the dark about costs related to its strategic planning.

The university hired 160over90, a well regarded consulting firm from Philadelphia, to assist in the project. The firm won the job through a competitive bidding process. It will receive a “total project fee” of $101,750. As the services agreement with the university states, that sum does not include “incidentals” or “production media and travel costs.” Nothing wrong there; such detail turns on how the project plays out.

What is noteworthy about the copy of the agreement released this week at the request of Rick Armon, a Beacon Journal staff writer, are the items that have been redacted. Start with the “cost per unit” of the “incidentals rate card,” covering such things as copies, mileage, art supplies and “meals for working late.” In a section regarding “project slippage,” there is a reference to the “discounted blended rate” of the client, the detail of the rate redacted. The same goes for the “held capacity” fee, the amount equating to a redacted portion of the “aggregate project fee.”

The agreement states that in the wake of a public records request, 160over90 will have time to “review and redact any propriety information.” The precise time it will have? Blacked out.

This provision carries a troubling echo, the university by agreement leaving the private company to make key decisions about what will be revealed about the spending of public money. Such was the problem when this newspaper requested documents last year involving the search at Kent State for a new university president.

No company should be required to give up proprietary information. In this case, the process leaves the public without knowledge of the payment schedule, rates it is being charged or the time permitted each party to terminate the agreement, in the event of a breach.

Take one contract or project, and rationales easily surface about why information should be withheld. Then, consider the range of agreements across public institutions, and the cumulative impact of many betrayals, smaller and larger, of the spirit or letter of the state open records law. That is what has happened in Ohio in recent decades, a steady erosion of the commitment to openness in public institutions, one seemingly small concession following another.

Thus, Kent State isn’t alone, but it again has left the public without a complete accounting of how public money will be spent. That isn’t good for the concept of trust in government.

Ohio auditor's office to rule on public records complaints

From The Columbus Dispatch For the first time, Ohioans can pursue public records complaints against state agencies and public universities without filing costly court cases.

Ohio Auditor Dave Yost announced today the creation of a “Sunshine Audit” program to field complaints about governmental entities failing to turn over public records or violating other provisions of open-records laws.

Yost’s lawyers will determine if violations occurred and, if so, issue non-compliance audit findings against public employees or agencies that potentially could be enforced in court if records still are not made available.

The auditor’s office also will issue findings involving local governments and public and charter schools if those complaints were first heard by, and not resolved, by Attorney General Mike DeWine’s public-records mediation program.

“Lawsuits cost too much, take too long and are not a realistic option for the average citizen,” Yost said at a news conference outside the Statehouse.

“It’s fundamentally wrong we can have a situation in Ohio where government can stonewall” the release of records and escape accountability unless Ohioans can afford tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees to pursue a lawsuit, Yost said.

Yost said he has no authority to enforce the findings of a “Sunshine Audit,” but that his office’s audits have the legal presumption of validity and would allow a person to ask a judge to order their enforcement to obtain records.

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Enquirer sues Ohio State Patrol over cruiser cam video

From The Cincinnati Enquirer The Ohio State Patrol is violating the law by refusing to give to The Enquirer a cruiser camera video of a January car chase, an Enquirer lawsuit against the police agency's parent organization alleges.

"A dash cam is the citizen's most direct view to understand and trust the work of an officer. In this case, the government can't defend why they are withholding it from the community. The law is on the citizen's side," Carolyn Washburn, Enquirer editor and vice president, said.

The suit calls for the Ohio Supreme Court to force the Ohio Department of Public Safety to release the video.

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Kent State to pay marketing consultants at least $101,750; portions of contract kept secret

From The Akron Beacon Journal Kent State University will pay a Philadelphia consulting company at least $101,750 to help the school develop its new strategic vision.

But the firm, 160over90, will likely earn much more than that because travel, production and other costs aren’t covered by the overall fee, according to the contract released Friday by the university.

University spokesman Eric Mansfield said the contract “includes redactions of information deemed proprietary by 160over90, which earned the contract by winning a competitive bid process. Kent State University is confident the company has a proven track record of success and will provide strong guidance and leadership in helping the university develop a solid strategic vision for future success.”

Kent State President Beverly Warren announced the hiring of 160over90 to the campus on Tuesday, but the school would not immediately say how much it was paying the company or release the contract. The Beacon Journal asked for the document the same day of the announcement. It was released at 4:58 p.m. Friday.

The 10-page contract notes that 160over90 had to be notified if a public records request was made for the contract and the firm would redact any proprietary information.

The agreement given to the newspaper has been redacted in several areas, including the payment schedule, how much the company charges for travel costs such as mileage and “in-flight wireless,” the amount of time it wanted to review and redact the document, and even some of the potential expenses. (A copy of the contract is available online at www.ohio.com.)

In 2014, the Beacon Journal made repeated requests for an accounting of the university’s search for a new president. However, the university signed an addendum to the search firm’s contract that gave the firm control over all records — including those that the newspaper argued should be public, such as travel receipts.

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In First Amendment victory, Blade gets $18,000 from government for detaining journalists, deleting photos

From The Blade

In what was seen as a victory for First Amendment rights, the U.S. government agreed Thursday to pay The Blade $18,000 for seizing the cameras of a photographer and deleting photographs taken outside the Lima tank plant last year.

In turn, The Blade agreed to dismiss the lawsuit it filed April 4 in U.S. District Court on behalf of photographer Jetta Fraser and reporter Tyrel Linkhorn against Charles T. Hagel, then the U.S. Secretary of Defense; Lt. Col. Matthew Hodge, commandant of the Joint Systems Manufacturing Center, and the military police officers involved in the March 28, 2014, incident.

Fritz Byers, attorney for The Blade, said the settlement was made under the First Amendment Privacy Protection Act, which prohibits the government, in connection with the investigation of a criminal offense, from searching or seizing any work product materials possessed by a journalist.

“The harassment and detention of The Blade’s reporter and photographer, the confiscation of their equipment, and the brazen destruction of lawful photographs cannot be justified by a claim of military authority or by the supposed imperatives of the national security state,” Mr. Byers said.

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Package of stories, op-ed, cartoons and more coming for Sunshine Week, March 15 to 21

From the ASNE We're excited that Sunshine Week 2015 kicks off in less than two weeks!

This year is extra special as we celebrate the 10th anniversary of Sunshine Week and national open-government efforts that many of you and your organizations have contributed to since the 2005 launch.

A highlight of the celebration will be the unprecedented package of high-impact stories, an op-ed, editorial cartoons, a video and a graphic/timeline that The Associated Press; The McClatchy Company; USA TODAY; and Gannett Co., Inc., are spearheading. Content will be available next week for free and distributed by ASNE, AP, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and the Sunshine Week website.

All groups and individuals are welcome to participate and use the resources provided on the Sunshine Week website. The Toolkit section, which showcases op-eds, editorial cartoons and Sunshine Week logos, is updated daily and will have more resources closer to Sunshine Week. There are also several sources for inspiration in FOI story ideas and Sunshine Week past work.

Interested organizations and individuals should send their Sunshine Week plans and details about events to sunshineweek@asne.org.

Sunshine Week 2015 is made possible by an endowment from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and by generous donations from Bloomberg and the Gridiron Club and Foundation.

For more information about Sunshine Week, visit sunshineweek.org. Follow Sunshine Week on Facebook and Twitter, and use the hashtag #SunshineWeek.

Editorial: The public’s business should be conducted in public – two council members censured

Editorial from The Plain Dealer Mao Zedong had the Gang of Four to enforce political compliance during China's Cultural Revolution. South Euclid City Council has the Gang of Five.

The members of this constitutionally-impaired cabal should be ashamed of themselves. As should Law Director Michael Lograsso for allowing them to waste taxpayer time and money on a resolution that attempts to chill transparency and public disclosure.

South Euclid Council President David Miller -- with the support of four colleagues -- has censured council members Ed Icove and Ruth Gray for supposedly "violating the rules of this Council and Robert's Rules of Order for disclosing the confidential discussions held by this body in the executive session on November 24, 2014 to individuals outside the council membership."

Juicy details about pending litigation? Insider info on property acquisition that could benefit a real estate developer?

Nothing so nefarious.

The news concerned the hiring of South Euclid Mayor Georgine Welo's son Miles Welo by Cleveland law firm Mansour, Gavin, Gerlack & Manos, which does work for South Euclid.

It was announced in executive session as part of a larger discussion of ongoing civil litigation, Mansour, Gavin attorney Tony Coyne said for this editorial.

"I didn't think it was a big deal," Coyne added.

Miller did. "Since it was mentioned in executive session, it was privileged information," he argued. Miller added that Lograsso agreed with him. Lograsso did not return a call for comment.

Icove was accused in the resolution of leaking the matter to the media.

Northeast Ohio Media Group reporter Sara Dorn has denied in print that Icove was her source. Dorn has not identified who provided the information.

Gray brought up the Miles Welo hiring during a December City Council meeting.

Icove and Gray have unsuccessfully requested an apology.

"Anything discussed in executive session stays in executive session," insists Mayor Welo. "You cannot break the code."

She's wrong.

The public's business should be conducted in public, not in executive sessions -- apart from the well-defined exceptions provided under Ohio law. Closed-door policy-making promotes an opaque culture that thrives on secrecy rather than oversight.

The public's right to know includes knowing when the son of a mayor is hired by a law firm that does business with the city.

Ex-employee of auditor’s office wants identities of commenters on Web stories revealed

From The Medina Gazette An ex-employee of the Medina County Auditor’s Office has served subpoenas in a federal lawsuit seeking to identify her former co-workers who may have left comments on stories posted on The Gazette’s website about her feud with Auditor Mike Kovack.

In a motion to block the subpoenas, which were issued earlier this month, attorneys for the county argued the information sought in the subpoenas could create a security threat in the office.

“Disclosing the Auditor’s Office IP addresses — without any limitation on its use or any security efforts taken to protect that information — makes their network extremely susceptible to security and hacking concerns,” attorneys Kimberly Vanover Riley and Brian Spiess wrote in a motion filed in U.S. District Court in Cleveland. “IP” is a shortened version of the term “Internet Protocol,” which identifies a computer location and network.

The county’s attorneys told the court they would willing to provide the auditor’s office IP addresses but not in a document that would be open to the public. Instead, they suggested having the judge determine if the addresses matched those on The Gazette’s website.

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Editorial: Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel's meritorious call for greater transparency in JobsOhio

Editorial from The Plain Dealer As part of his laudable efforts to open up "Ohio's checkbook" to taxpayers, Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel recently called for JobsOhio, the state's quasi-private economic development arm, to reveal how it spends its money.

"I believe the benefit of empowering Ohio taxpayers to see how the money is being spent there outweighs the cost of other states seeing how the money is being spent," Mandel said during a gathering last month arranged by the Associated Press.

That's a welcome embrace of transparency by Mandel, whose office recently debuted Ohiocheckbook.com, which Mandel said lists every expenditure the state makes in an easily accessible database.

Mandel said for this editorial that he wants to discuss with JobsOhio having its expenses publicly itemized like those of the state's other agencies.

JobsOhio spokesman Matt Englehart said JobsOhio welcomes such a meeting but insisted that certain details about JobsOhio dealings must remain hidden, lest the state lose its competitive advantage attracting jobs. Englehart argued that JobsOhio already is audited privately and that its financials are posted on its website.

"We're probably the most transparent private company Ohio has ever seen and that's mandated by law," Englehart stated in an email.

And yet JobsOhio should no more be considered a "private company" than the Ohio Department of Transportation.

As Ohio Auditor Dave Yost repeatedly noted when he tried unsuccessfully to audit JobsOhio's books -- before state lawmakers barred Yost from doing so with a special law shielding how JobsOhio spends its funds -- JobsOhio should be publicly audited since part of its money is, in essence, the public's money, income derived from profits of the state's liquor monopoly.

Yost -- and Mandel -- are right. JobsOhio is wrong.

As Mandel notes, JobsOhio can show how its money is being spent without divulging the content of sensitive discussions, but, regardless, the state should always err on the side of full disclosure.

We agree. Gov. John Kasich claims JobsOhio, his signature economic development program, is better equipped to attract jobs to the state because it is run by business people. Maybe so. But those business people are spending what amounts to the public's dime. They should be held accountable to the Ohio taxpayer for the decisions they make.