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Continue ReadingSeptember: Disciplined workers should be named
When state employees misbehave, does the public have a right to know who they are? Two state agencies are answering that question in different ways. Both the state Department of Justice and Department of Natural Resources have in the recent past blacked out the names of state workers from records of disciplinary actions released to […]
Continue ReadingAugust: AG rivals all back more openness
In Wisconsin, the office of attorney general has the authority to interpret and prosecute the state’s open records and open meetings laws. It is arguably the most important office in the state for promoting and defending our tradition of open government. With that in mind, the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council asked the three Democrats […]
Continue ReadingJan. 23, 2014
Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council Minutes of Jan. 23, 2014 meeting Capital Newspapers auditorium 1) Call to order and introductions. The meeting was called to order at 2:05 p.m. In attendance were Dee Hall, Steve Lovejoy, Mark Stodder, Dave Haynes, Michael Buelow, Tom Bier, Doug Wojcik, Mary Callen, Beth Bennett, Gordon Govier, Mark Pitsch, Bob […]
Continue ReadingOct. 3, 2013
Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council Oct. 3, 2013 Capital Newspapers auditorium 1) Call to order. The meeting was called to order at 2:05. In attendance were Dee J. Hall, Bill Lueders, Christa Westerberg, Jim Palmer (guest), Bob Dreps, Mark Stodder, Beth Bennett, Chris Hardie, Mary Callen, Doug Wojcik, April Barker (guest), Michelle Vetterkind, Sean Dwyer, […]
Continue ReadingJuly: A wish-list for open government
Most candidates for public office, when asked, will pledge their support for open and transparent government. The real question is: Are they committed to fixing problems and expanding what information is available? Recently, the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council drew up a “Legislative wish-list for open government” — changes in state law to improve access […]
Continue ReadingJune: Media need photos to tell the story
In early May the newspaper I work for, the Wisconsin State Journal, requested the official portraits of the Madison police officers involved in the fatal shooting a few days earlier of a man police say had just stabbed two women to death. Although he’d released the officers’ names, Madison Police Chief Mike Koval initially balked […]
Continue ReadingMay: Lawmakers should retain, release records
In early April, in a case brought by the conservative MacIver Institute against state Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals declared that communications from citizens to lawmakers are, as one judge put it, “subject to the open records law, without redaction.” But the court also recognized that legislators have the power to […]
Continue ReadingApril: AG’s office could do more on openness
Should enforcement of Wisconsin’s open records and open meetings laws depend on individual citizens having to file often costly and protracted lawsuits? That is one option prescribed under these laws, and those who prevail in such cases can recover attorney’s fees. But the laws also contain provisions intended to help people resolve disputes in a […]
Continue ReadingInvestigative reporter Umhoefer to receive Wisconsin Watchdog Award
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigative reporter Dave Umhoefer, winner of a Pulitzer Prize for his 2008 investigation into pension padding in Milwaukee County, has been named the 2014 recipient of the Distinguished Wisconsin Watchdog Award. The award is a highlight of the fourth annual Wisconsin Watchdog Awards reception and dinner, presented jointly by the Wisconsin Center […]
Continue ReadingMarch: Open those cookies, and more
As part of national Sunshine Week (sunshineweek.org), March 16-22, members of the Madison student and professional chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists fanned out across the capital city, handing out fortune cookies. We dropped a handful in the offices of the elected officials, from Madison School Board to Gov. Scott Walker, as well as […]
Continue ReadingMarch: Openness awards cap trying year
This last year has seen almost constant threats to the state’s openness laws. We’ve had local law enforcement agencies suppressing drivers license information, a state senator claiming immunity from civil suits to evade the open records law, and attempts to deny public access to records of circuit court cases and university research. All of these […]
Continue ReadingAction alert on bill to gut information on WCCA (CCAP)
SB 526, the bill that would purge the state’s online records system of information about criminal cases that do not lead to convictions, or are overturned on appeal, passed a Senate committee yesterday on a 5-0 vote. The bill is now available for a full Senate vote. This is the most serious attempt to date […]
Continue ReadingMarch: Walker must answer questions on emails
Like many other people in Wisconsin, I spent some time recently digging into the 27,000 pages of emails released from the John Doe probe into alleged illegal activities by the staff of then-Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker. I was somewhat surprised to find my name appear. In June of 2010, amid the hotly contested race […]
Continue ReadingFebruary: OpenBook offers partial peek at state spending
In January, the state of Wisconsin launched a new website with a searchable database that lets the public see what state government spends on goods, services and other operating costs. OpenBook Wisconsin — openbook.wi.gov — debuted with more than 25 million records for expenses including real estate transactions, building projects, maintenance, office supplies, and rents. […]
Continue ReadingSeeking Distinguished Wisconsin Watchdog Award nominations
Nominations are being sought for the 2014 Distinguished Wisconsin Watchdog Award, presented annually to recognize an individual’s extraordinary contributions to open government or investigative journalism in Wisconsin. Dave Zweifel, editor emeritus of The Capital Times and a founder of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, was named the inaugural winner in 2011. The late Dick […]
Continue ReadingJanuary: Local Government Center a valuable resource
Each election year in Wisconsin, about one-third of the local government offices on the ballot will be filled by newcomers — driven to office by a reformer’s zeal or a desire to serve their friends and neighbors. And some of them will know little about the laws that govern the conduct of local government. That’s […]
Continue ReadingDecember: Lawmaker contacts shouldn’t be secret
Sandy Whisler was surprised to see her name appear on the Wisconsin State Journal’s editorial page — not in a letter to the editor, which she sometimes writes, but in a Nov. 20 editorial. Whisler, a retired educator in Lake Mills, had emailed four state legislators urging them to hold hearings on proposed bills to […]
Continue ReadingNovember: Don’t shield donor employer info
State Sen. Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend, would like to change the way Wisconsin records campaign donations. He’s introduced a bill to raise the threshold for when donors to state and local campaigns must disclose their occupations from its current level of more than $100 to more than $500. The bill would also eliminate the requirement […]
Continue ReadingOctober: Vukmir wrong on records law
State Sen. Leah Vukmir, R-Wauwatosa, is making a novel legal argument to dodge a public records request. It’s one that, carried to its logical extreme, could neuter Wisconsin’s Open Records Law. Vukmir is claiming legislative immunity from a June lawsuit filed by the liberal Center for Media and Democracy, which has alleged that she failed […]
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