N.Y. State open government director rejects Sullivan’s blanket confidentiality claim

From RecordOnline.com:

MONTICELLO (October 23, 2012) – The Sullivan County Legislature was within its right to hold private presentations by bidders for its tourism-promotion contract, but the county’s refusal to disclose any part of the proposals has no basis in law, a state official said.

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NFOIC’s State FOIA Friday for October 12, 2012

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:

Michigan schools create their own FOIA interpretations

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In shift, Brooklyn DA opens window on abusers’ names

From The Jewish Week:

While Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes has repeatedly refused to divulge names of Orthodox child molesters charged or prosecuted though his office’s confidential Kol Tzedek hotline, a spokesman for the DA this week told The Jewish Week that, if presented with a name obtained through other means, his office would confirm whether the individual was reported through Kol Tzedek.

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Editorial: More local compliance on FOI laws needed

From The Journal News

The public’s right to know how government operates — and how it spends taxpayers’ money — supersedes local laws that pledge “confidentiality” and aim to protect the “privacy” of public officials.

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