Maryland Gov. O’Malley’s Administration posts pessimistic report

Today is International Right to Know Day, and what a better way to celebrate than to highlight a story about the Freedom of Information Act.

In Maryland, former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R), who is hoping to unseat Governor Martin O’Malley (D) in November obtained e-mails from the governor’s administration through a public records request. The e-mails detail a recent flub where the administration accidentally made public an economic report that contradicted the governor’s position on the economy.

One of the e-mails from an O’Malley staffer read: “The theme of the discussion was quite clear that we would emphasize private sector job growth as progressing . . . at no time did we remotely discuss messaging that the economic recovery had stalled.”

The administration is taking the position that the report did not contain any sort of conclusion, but was rather a part of internal conversation. Regardless, the posting of the report was clearly a mistake.

Still, perhaps it oughtn’t be seen that way. People do, after all, have a right to know about important economic data and be free to interpret it. The O’Malley could have seen this as an opportunity to gain the public’s trust by posting a potentially scandalous report with bad news. It would be nice if governments served as information providers and not just as spin machines.

The interesting part of this story is the insight that the requested e-mails bring. The report posted was prepared by Mary Jo Yeisley, a supervisor in DLLR’s Office of Workforce Information and Performance. Yeisley began her report with a line that later appeared verbatim when the report was posted online. “Amid reports of uncertainties in financial markets, declining consumer confidence and spending and lackluster hiring at the national level, Maryland’s economic recovery faltered in July.” In a follow-up e-mail, she predicted those numbers would only get worse.

All of this internal dialogue is brought to you by the Freedom of Information Act.

Maryland School Districts Score “C” on Transparency Test

Alexandria, VA— Maryland school districts earned an overall “C” for information available on their websites according to an analysis conducted by Sunshine Review, a pro-transparency group. The analysis found that Howard County Public Schools earned a perfect score; Frederick and Montgomery County Schools received the only other “A” grades. Five school districts received failing grades, including Talbot and St. Mary’s County Public Schools.

Sunshine Review employs a “10 Point Transparency Checklist” to assess state and local government websites on proactive disclosure of government information. The checklist measures content available on government websites against what should be provided. Checklist items include information about budgets, meetings, elected and administrative officials, background checks, audits, contracts, academic performance, public records, and taxes.

Marta Hummel Mossburg, a Senior Fellow at the Maryland Public Policy Institute, noted the importance of providing key information. “As Sunshine Review’s analysis of Maryland’s school districts shows, most fail to provide information online about fees funding schools and other key documents. In good times and especially during this recession, parents and residents should have easy access to whether their dollars are being spent wisely.”

President of Sunshine Review Michael Barnhart agreed, saying “It is crucial for parents and taxpayers to have access to complete information about how school districts operate.”

Sunshine Review is a non-profit organization dedicated to state and local government transparency. Sunshine Review collaborates with individuals and organizations throughout America in the cause of an informed citizenry and a transparent government. Since its inception in 2008, Sunshine Review has analyzed the websites of all 50 states, more than 3,140 counties, 805 cities, and 1,560 school districts.

For more information, visit www.sunshinereview.org.

Maryland to begin broadcasting meetings

This week Maryland passed legislation to broadcast certain meetings over the internet and is going to waive fees for “up-to-the-minute” updates on legislation.

Some of the meetings that will be broadcast are the Maryland Board of Public Works meetings, which has some influence in how the state budget will be divided. Also constituents will be able to watch like online video of the Maryland House and listen to live audio of the Senate by 2011.

The legislation was sponsored by Montgomery County Delegate Heather Mizeur and Montgomery County Sen. Nancy King who call this a victory for transparency.

Hat tip: Video Minutes

Maryland counties cut spending on travel and training

Less fun for them, more funds for us.

Local government officials often have conferences to go to and people to meet. This year, Maryland leaders are deciding that its not worth the price tag.

Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold summed it up by saying “Traveling out-of-state to conferences, and in this economic climate … I’m not going to allow that to occur.” Leopold has reduced spending on employee training by about $50,000 since he took office three years ago: he is conducting more business by phone instead of making costly trips and encourages employees to get information from websites instead of at conferences or training seminars.

Counties are responding with similar prudence state-wide. Officials are getting creative, using the internet to provide professional development information instead of sending employees to conferences. And employees aren’t even sending in requests to attend conferences, knowing they will be rejected.

In Howard County only crucial travel and training expenses are considered, such as travel for public safety personnel who need to keep their certifications current. For example, the county recently denied a request a financial analyst to attend the Government Finance Officers Association conference. The analyst would have received training in technology and digital government issues, a current focus for Howard County, but the county determined the training wasn’t critical or crucial.

*In Baltimore County, officials have cut training and travel budgets by about 15 percent, which includes spending among schools, the community college, libraries, and county government.

*Frederick County officials have made similar reductions in every department for expenses related to travel and training.

Maryland counties cutting spending on conferences is noteworthy. It’s in my nature to remember scandals more than responsible behavior, and just last year, Maryland counties were facing serious criticism over Facebook pictures showing government employees drinking and partying at the Maryland Counties Association conference.

Still, while it has taken serious economic problems for some governments to tighten up their budgets and really prioritize the most necessary of spending, it is good to know that citizens’ interests—and money—are in responsible, thrifty hands.

Maryland transparency woes?

Yesterday, I wrote about the strides being taken in improving Maryland’s transparency and integrating technology into the state’s plans. But Maryland doesn’t have a completely pristine record on the matter, according to some.

An editorial in the Washington Post this week called the transparency in Maryland “fake transparency.” The author of the editorial has experience with Anne Arundel, which he recognizes as having “an award-winning Web site [that] happily provides tons of noncontroversial information.” The author had experience with Maryland Public Information Act requests, and in turn faced intimidation and incompetence from the county’s staff on several ocassions. Another problem he noticed was very lax compliance to the Maryland Open Meetings Act, like the lack of a public notice to alert the public of special meetings and a lack of responsiveness from county officials when the problem was brought to their attention.

The Post article concludes with the recommendation that local governments adopt legislation similar to the federal Public Online Information Act of 2010, which would make all documents subject to a Public Information Act request be online and free to the public from the moment of their creation.

I’ve also written about Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal’s mixed transparency record. The governor, like the state of Maryland, has some people lauding his transparency accomplishments, and others saying they are less than perfect. Apparently, his lack of follow-through on his transparency promises has landed Jindal the title of 4th Worst Governor in the Country. That is the consequence of not addressing transparency concerns.

Whether the problems found in Anne Arundel are generalizable to the rest of the state is yet to be determined. However, good transparency recommendations should be addressed, regardless of their premises. Our friends at the Sunlight Foundation have been saying Public = Online for awhile, the sentiment echoed by the Post editorial, and this may be the opportunity for Maryland to lead the way.

Maryland and transparency innovation

Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley spoke at the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy recently, touting the importance of government transparency and technology. The governor is particularly interested in how technology can help government and its citizens measure progress openly.

The governor has experience in pairing transparency with technology. Maryland instituted CitiStat, an award winning tool modeled after a similar tool in New York City, which aggregates crime data onto a map to determine the best way to deploy law enforcement resources. The Maryland tool is more encompassing than the one it is modeled after and includes performance measures for many city agencies, like waste management and housing. The success of the tool is evident, as CitiStat has been further adopted by governments both in the US and abroad.

The governor stressed the importance of information that is “shared by all” in order to help citizens and leaders understand what is at stake. Another benefit to such tools is that it helps law and policy makers measure the success of their policies. That way, the effectiveness of a new law can be seen immediately, and problem areas can be addressed.

This is just one of the innovative, new ways that technology is being used to help governments be more transparent. We’re interested in innovation that has been going on in your local government in order for government to help meet citizens’ information needs.

Join us tomorrow on Twitter for FOIAchat, our live chat for journalists, transparency advocates, and just regular citizens to share information. We’ll be speaking about innovation in transparency at 2 pm EST, use hashtag #FOIAchat.