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Standing by the public's right to know in Batavia

By Howard B. Owens

I've only read a few open record laws in my journalism career, so I can't say the state of New York has the prettiest Freedom of Information preamble, but it is a nice, inspiring bit of prose:

§84. Legislative declaration. The legislature hereby finds that a free society is maintained when government is responsive and responsible to the public, and when the public is aware of governmental actions. The more open a government is with its citizenry, the greater the understanding and participation of the public in government.

As state and local government services increase and public problems become more sophisticated and complex and therefore harder to solve, and with the resultant increase in revenues and expenditures, it is incumbent upon the state and its localities to extend public accountability wherever and whenever feasible.

The people's right to know the process of governmental decision-making and to review the documents and statistics leading to determinations is basic to our society. Access to such information should not be thwarted by shrouding it with the cloak of secrecy or confidentiality. The legislature therefore declares that government is the public's business and that the public, individually and collectively and represented by a free press, should have access to the records of government in accordance with the provisions of this article.

That phrase on public problems becoming more sophisticated and complex reminds me of the post I did Saturday about the importance of freely sharing information, discussing issues and exploring different perspectives -- a key mission of The Batavian.

In order to give Batavia the kind of online forum it deserves to discuss and explore all issues, we certainly intend to seek out, retrieve and examine public records -- not in the "gotcha" spirit of much of traditional media, but in a spirit of openness, frankness and with a goal toward creating a better Batavia.

L. Brian Clark

The public's right to know is what News is all about. . . regardless of what it is. I think your quest for this is excellent for the community.

Many years ago property transfers were published in the local newspaper. I would like to see them come back. The Buffalo News publishes Erie and Niagara counties but not Genesee. Also the police blotter published in our local paper doesn't seem to have Batavia in it very much. Is this because they don't seek it out or they just don't have anything to report? When it was budget time in the city we certainly heard how busy the Police and other departments were but things seemed to have slowed down now.

Having another medium like The Batavian will help the community to get all the News in a very timely manner.

Thanks for your efforts.

May 13, 2008, 10:54am Permalink

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