Public Records: My Opinion (by Hugh Taylor)

billie-glasses-b-w 250 dpi.gif This started out about m’dog, but every time, it’s something . . .

Now, it’s public records. BillieTheDog and me love driving ‘round, but because of our recent adventures in public records Billie’s taken to hunkering down in the truck and wearing the Groucho glasses. Scared of the Wakulla election tradition, the “Circling O’The Wagons,” I suspect.

We need, as they say in the newspapering biz, the “who, what, where, when and why” of that particular notion: namely, who or what’s going on so bad that Wakulla needs to tinker with the Sunshine Law and how can we engage it? And to consider the questions “why isn’t it our government, rather than our government too?” And, of course, what’s with Brimner?

So it’s about Ed Brimner. And it’s not.

Brimner should have attended July’s BOCC meeting. Because of that irresponsibility the county got a flurry of records requests. For a number of months I’ve been politely asking for emails from him and have been getting you-know-what in the citizen you-know-where. This whole thing is his fault.

Citizens have met with every excuse and criticism in attempting to find out what’s going on governmentally. More reasons than the letters in “obfuscation” and “bloviation,” and “stonewalling” (33, for the lazier among you).

There’s a real dark side to all this records stuff. Citizens have been intimidated. Files have been “lost,” parts of files found aren’t complete (with known documents taken out). Price quotes for records so high it’s nuts. Stonewalling, selective enforcement, “checking” with the principals, over-charging for simple items. Having attorneys or principals “review” requests, the “litigation” excuses copies of reports “unavailable,” and the ever popular “small group of people “excuse, causing “staff” to, uuh, “go crazy” and “eat a lot.”

These examples are what Charles Davis at the U of Missouri Journalism school speaks of as “freedom of information” moments. “I find that sooner or later,” Davis says, “most of us have . . . that moment, in which, perhaps for the first time in their life a citizen needs information from their government.” And “when that moment ends badly, the damage done to the relationship between the citizen and their government is immeasurable.”

Well, my moments made me one public records fat-boy hound.

But it’s not about me or citizens. It’s the law. Everyone’s entitled to records, commissioners and us. As I wield my sling blade of speculation now and again to whack at the underbrush of government, I constantly wonder about all this. It should be ask and receive. Like in the Bible.

Engaging government is experiential. Like the apple; I can tell you all about it but I can’t tell you how it tastes. It’s like that with open records; I can tell you all about my adventures, but not how I feel when I get slammed. To find that out, go have your own dad-gum “FOIA moment.” But, if citizens are at the mercy of the “nonnie, nonnie, boo-boo” of records (“we’ve got ‘em and you ain’t”), something’s bad wrong.

Then there’s Mr. Brimner: he goes and writes “I expect you will soon be hearing how I am attempting to stifle public information requests.” Well, he’s the guy not complying with a legal request, so what does he expect to hear? It was months ago. And he’s still not complied. And this guy’s our new chair? A leader? Plus, he’s the one fibbing to Mr. Snowden about turning over the documents requested? Enough! Why not just drink a big glass of shut up and comply with the law?

So what do we citizens do? We get educated! With a forum! The First Amendment Foundation (the folks who put the “sun” in the Sunshine Law) will be holding a public records forum at 4:00 pm on Thursday, December 13th at the TCC center at 5 Crescent Drive, sponsored by Concerned Citizens of Wakulla. Like Steve Martin says, “a day without sunshine, is, like, dark.” And we don’t need that.

So! Education! Come learn. We cannot afford to have representative government devolve into an “us” versus “them” situation at which point we are all in trouble.

Please attend. I’ve had my moments. You come learn how to have yours -- I’d much rather be riding ‘round with m’dog, up on the seat, Groucho glasses off, her riding proud!

Hugh Taylor

- Hugh Taylor writes and rides the roads of Wakulla, with his dog, BillieTheDog

This letter originally published on December 4, 2007.

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