NewsBeat

May 2023 NewsBeat 10 By JUDY PATRICK New York transparency coalition says state has open government crisis S aying open government laws are being abused and ignored in New York state, the New York Coalition for Open Gov- ernment is calling for the state to fortify ex- isting laws and adopt new ones to improve compliance. "The reality is that too much public business is being performed behind closed doors," the private, non-profit coalition said in an April 20 report documenting its work tracking local governments' compli- ance with existing laws. "Public access to governmental records is being hampered by long delays and improper denials. Too many elected officials are serving their own interest or special interests at the expense of the public." A lack of monitoring and of enforcement by any state agency are among the coali- tion's chief concerns. "All across New York state private executive sessions are being improperly held, where the public is being left in the dark regarding basic informa- tion," the report said. "Even worse are se- cret caucus meetings where public business is being discussed, without any notice or minutes." Last year, in a series of random checks, the coalition found that: *72 percent of towns were not posting meeting documents online *25 percent of towns were not posting meeting minutes or recordings *39 percent of counties failed to ac- knowledge a request for information under the Freedom Of Information Act within the required five days, with 28 percent of coun- ties never acknowledging the request. *65 percent of county boards of election did not respond to emails or phone calls seeking information *73 percent of election boards failed to acknowledge a request for information un- der the Freedom Of Information Act within the required five days. "The documented large-scale non-com- pliance with open government laws is proof that there is an open government crisis in New York state," the coalition said. The coalition says inaction by Gov. Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James contributes to the crisis. Hochul made no mention of the need for government trans- parency in her January State of the State speech, the coaltion said. And while attor- ney generals in some other states investi- gate, mediate and enforce open government laws, New York's attorney general's offices does not, the coalition said. The coalition has proposed eight changes at the state level to improve transparency in New York: 1. Work to advance a Constitutional Amendment establishing the right to open government, similar to existing language in California, Florida, Louisiana and Montana. 2. Require four hours each year of train- ing about open government laws for elected officials at the village, town, city, county and school board level. 3. Make it easier to legally challenge vio- lations of open government laws by mak- ing it easier to recoup attorney's fee. The high cost of litigation and existing rules regarding attorney fees often impede court challenges. 4. Create a hearing officer system to address Freedom of Information Law ap- peals and Open Meetings Law complaints. The coalition says such a system could be modeled after 1982 legislation creating a hearing officer system to hear property tax assessments. 5. Require all state agencies to prepare an annual Freedom of Information report. While Gov. Hochul last year required 70 state agencies to prepare a transparency plan, the coalition says those agencies should file an annual report regarding those plans, reports the coalition said will provide useful information not now being tracked or publicly available. 6. Restructure the state Committee on Open Government by realigning the ap- pointment structure and giving the commit- tee the authority to impose fines. Of the 11 seats now on the governing board of the state committee, four of the seats are linked to the executive branch (the lieutenant governor, the budget direc- tor, the commissioner of general services and the secretary of state) with another five appointed directly by the governor. The Senate majority leader and Assembly speaker each make an appointment to the committee. The coalition is proposing to eliminate four seats linked to the executive branch, replacing them with appointments by the state comptroller, the attorney general, the senate minority leader and the assembly minority leader 7. Increase funding to the state Commit- tee on Open Government While the existing committee is a great resource for information, it doesn't have the enforcement power or staff it needs, the coalition said. The committee has four employees. "The state's lack of commit- ment to open government is clear when the resources provided to the committee are compared to other organizations," the coalition said, noting that the Inspector's General Office has 92 employees, the Joint Commission on Public Ethics has 50 em- ployees and the Authorities Budget Office has 11 employees. 8. Pass legislation creating an attorney general mediation program States such as Rhode Island, Massachu- setts, Kentucky and Illinois have govern- ment-based units that help the public in their quest to access public information. The coalition says New York's attorney general could act on her own to create such a unit or state legislation could create such an office. The New York Coalition for Open Gov- ernment, Inc. describes itself as "a nonpar- tisan, not-for-profit organization comprised of journalists, activists, attorneys, educa- tors, news media organizations, and other concerned citizens who value open govern- ment and freedom of information." Judy Patrick is vice president for editorial development at the New York Press Associ- ation.

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