Pensions, lawsuits, gifts revealed on new city hall site for Sunshine Week

From KPBS:

Marking Sunshine Week in San Diego, Mayor Bob Filner on Thursday unveiled a new section of the city website that makes good on his promise for open government—putting in one place information on the pensions being paid city retirees as well as all lawsuits involving City Hall.

With his open-government chief Donna Frye standing beside him, he displayed what Frye called one of the most transparent city sites in the state, if not the nation.

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Call for nominations – SPJ presents its 28th James Madison Awards

From Society of Professional Journalists:

The James Madison Freedom of Information Awards recognize Northern California organizations and individuals who have made significant contributions to advancing freedom of information and expression in the spirit of James Madison, the creative force behind the First Amendment. SPJ NorCal presents the awards during National Freedom of Information Week near Madison’s birthday, March 16.

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Special Edition: NFOIC’s State FOIA Friday for November 23, 2012

We so liked the State FOIA Friday this week, we thought we’d give it this second and special edition.

A few state FOIA and local open government news items selected from many of interest that we might or might not have drawn attention to earlier in the week:

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Personal calendar reveals DeMaio met with Manchester, Ca.

From I-Newsource:

San Diego mayoral candidate Carl DeMaio keeps a private calendar that shows he had appointments with newspaper owner Doug Manchester in December and in May, despite his office insisting no records of communication exist between the two men.

[…]

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Calif. biotech firms spend $40 million on lobbying in 3 years

From California Watch

Biotech companies with operations in California – the birthplace of the industry and home to one-third of the country’s biotech firms – spent $40 million on federal lobbying between 2009 and 2011, according to an analysis released yesterday by the Union of Concerned Scientists and Center for Responsive Politics.

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