Residents make use of FOIL access to information

Residents make use of FOIL access to information

On October 24, state legislators paved the way for citizens to file a Freedom of Information (FOIL) request via-e-mail, a change in the law that Committee on Open Government Executive Director Robert Freeman said he "never dreamed" he would see, but one that he believes will "make a huge difference" in how the law is used.

Along with official battles fought at the bureaucratic level of government, many local residents have used the law to dig a little deeper on local topics.

Jerome Brixner has been an advocate of citizens' rights at least since the 1980s. Elected to the Chili Town Board in 1982, Brixner petitioned soon after to use a tape recorder during town meetings.

"I found that I couldn't hear and understand the discussions that were taking place," he said, noting the inevitable noise level in a roomful of separate, simultaneous conversations.

Brixner then contacted Robert Freeman at the Committee on Open Government and received the green light to set up a tape recorder at the town meetings. The town board, however, was quick to ban the device, Brixner said, who, after acquiring a pro bono representative from the Civil Liberties Union to back him up, fought to get the recorder reinstated during meetings.

"Any avenue that increases public participation is a good thing," Brixner said of the recent amendments noted below.

Brockport resident Jim Hamlin does not have a computer, so the expanding of the law to include requests by e-mail does not affect him directly, though he knows of others who have already taken advantage of it, and he is glad to hear of developments.

"I think it's great for working people," said Hamlin. "Village offices are only open from 8:30 to 4:30 on weekdays and closed on weekends."

Citizens are no longer bound to the restrictive office hours of their local town hall or the inevitable delays of a request via post. In the age of wireless communication, anyone can submit a request from anywhere at anytime.

"Still, I've never had a problem," says Hamlin. "There have been instances when I requested information that I felt should have been available, but I was told that the village did not have it."

Cooperative release of information hasn't always been a guarantee, though as Robert Freeman notes, the majority of requests are made and honored without the bother of a formal petition.

For Hamlin especially, lack of information has never been the real issue, but rather the quality of that information, and that is what has led him to the village hall time and again.

"The problem is that you could become inundated with information and rumors," he said. "Now myself, if I keep hearing the same rumor over and over, I use FOIL to clear my mind. And I think that if citizens want to be informed, they should be requesting information. I encourage people to get involved, whether it's through FOIL, or just go to meetings."

Recent changes
The Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) of New York state has received two major amendments in the past few months.

On August 16, Governor George Pataki approved legislation "to broaden the authority of the courts to award attorney's fees when government agencies fail to comply with the Freedom of Information Law," according to the website for the Committee on Open Government (COG). (http://www.dos.state.ny.us/coog/coogwww.html).

Effective October 24, further legislation approved by the governor allows for citizens to file a FOIL request via electronic mail, with the stipulation that a petitioned agency must respond via email if the requested information is available in such a format or can easily be rendered so.

FOILing for info
The Federal Freedom of Information Act was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on Independence Day 1966, and was designed to promote participation in government. It made available to the nation's citizens countless federal reports and memoranda, though had no bearing whatsoever on state agencies.

New York state eventually followed suit in the late 1970s, when it passed its own Freedom of Information Law and its sister legislation, the Open Meetings or "Sunshine" Law. The first accomplished much of what was made possible by the federal precedent, but on a state level; while the second rendered public meetings accessible to any citizen with the desire to attend.

The Committee on Open Government, created in conjunction with FOIL and based in Albany, is the official representative of the people in affairs dealing with the laws and acts as regulator, mediator and critic of the laws.

At the close of each year, COG issues its annual report with observations and suggestions for improving the open government laws entitled: "Report to the Governor and the State Legislature: Adding Strength and Good Sense to Open Government Laws."

The most recent available report, from 2005, runs over 60 pages, including an appendix of news articles related to the "open government," and can be requested from the Committee or accessed on their website.

FOIL saves taxpayers money, the report argues in its opening pages, citing an example taken from the New York Times, which, having obtained records through the state Freedom of Information Law, exposed "the fraud, waste and profiteering" of Medicaid.

"Assuming the moneys paid by Medicaid involving 'fraud, waste and profiteering' run into the millions," the report states, "the use of FOIL by the Times, the publication of its findings, and the remedial action taken by state agencies will save taxpayers millions and perhaps billions of dollars over the course of years."