Asking the intent of any citizen as a pre-condition to inspect government
data is strictly illegal. At this moment I am in the former East
Berlin. I thought this government over the people attitude died when the
wall fell just yards from my present location.
The key for any citizen wishing to ensure their right of access to
information is to mention the data practices act:
http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/stats/13/
Minnesota has some of the best open access laws in the world. As citizens
we do not take advantage of them and allow the culture of closed
government to thrive.
I call on the Mayor to issue a letter to all city employees to educate
them on the right of the public to access information. I hope to see that
letter on the Mpls list with the next couple weeks. The truth is that
most government employees are helpful and want to provide as much access
as they think they can. The problem is that they are often confused by
upper management which is concerned about political power and create a
climate of control. I also call on the Mayor to host a training for
staff and include flyers on citizen access rights in various city mailing
to citizens as well as a profile section on the city web site on this
matter.
Our laws are as open as Sweden where government agencies are setting up
computers to index all incoming and outgoing email for public
access. Right now journalists and others can check these indexes in
government offices and soon they will be able to do this remotely via the
Internet. This will happen in MN someday as well. This kind of access
may seem like a shock, but government is the one institution we all own
and the Internet will be used to the fullest extent permitted by law. I
doubt that our access laws will be rolled back simply because access is
now easy (although secondary use of personal public information may becme
regulated like the voter file). Welcome to information age democracy.
So personally I call on all Mayoral candidates to agree to an open door
e-mail policy where all e-mail in the Mayor's office will be accessible
via the Interrnet unless it is private data in MN statute (I don't really
need to see lunch plan e-mails either, but by law they are public). So
who is on board?
Steven Clift
Carag Resident
_______________________________________________
Minneapolis Issues Forum - Minnesota E-Democracy
Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more:
http://e-democracy.org/mpls
