“All citizens in a democratic society are entitled to openness in
government. Idaho's Open Meeting and Public Records laws, ensure that state and
local government business is conducted in the open, that citizens have access
to public documents, and at the same time the privacy of citizens is protected.”
Idaho Public Record Law Manual. 2017
For those of you not familiar with this manual it can be
accessed online. Public record requests make sure that we as citizens can
access public records to keep our government open and transparent.
“Open
government is the cornerstone of a free society. The Idaho Legislature affirmed
Idaho’s commitment to open government by enacting the Idaho public records law
in 1990. The public records law protects each citizen’s right to monitor the
actions of state and local government entities by providing access to
government records. The Legislature is continually balancing the competing
interests of public access and an individual’s right to privacy, through its
adoption and amendments to Idaho’s public records law.”
With that said a question was posed at the last
BW&S meeting (February 15, 2018) by a citizen concerning the recent
requests for public records. These requests are protected by our State Attorney
General Lawrence Wadsen. We as users of BW&S have the right to monitor the
actions that our Board has taken concerning the running and administration of
our Water and Sewer District. If memory serves me correctly it seems that one
of our current Board members did indeed exercise her right to view public
records before she was elected to the Board. She was heavily involved in public
records requests along with 3 other people, two who are members of the BW&S
District.
Chairman Chuck Waller stated in a letter to the CDA Press editor May
13th, 2015 “A third issue is a complaint that Bayview Water
and Sewer is following the State Code regarding record requests. Would people
have us ignore State laws because it is not convenient for them? The law is to
enhance transparency.” (Chuck Waller).
We as consumers have the right to look at records, we also
have the right to make public records requests. The current Board used
transparency as their platform during the 2015 election.
Yes, citizens can make public records requests, no the Board may
not ask why citizens are making the request, and no the Board should not make a
request at a Board meeting that citizens stop making requests because the requests
are, in their opinion, a waste of time.
" The denial of honesty, openness, transparency and
integrity in public administration leads to self-interest
and corruption vs public interest and sound governance."
Norma Jean Knowles
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