Thursday, April 09, 2009
John Bartlett Making His Mark In His First Term
Rep. John Bartlett (D-Indianapolis) is making quite an impression during his first elected term in the Indiana House of Representatives. Bartlett became chairman of the House Government and Regulatory Reform Committee where his first order of business was to kill the Kernan-Shepard local government reform measures. Now, he's decided a public access proposal should have the same fate. SB 232 would allow judges to impose fines on government officials who unlawfully deny access to public records and force citizens to sue to open up the records. The legislation would allow courts and public access counselors to review redacted materials in documents that are produced to determine if the law is being followed. It also requires government bodies to post online notices of public meetings. Rep. Bartlett refused to return calls from the Star asking why he won't provide a hearing on SB 232. Hats off to the Marion County Democrats for serving up another elected politician who thumbs his nose at the public.
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5 comments:
Not saying that this person ascribes to these views, but people with a socialist or evn-farther-left point of view don't like open access. It hampers their statist aspirations.
Pretty far left here, but I think open access is crucial. Any data to back up the assertion that the left dislikes open access more than the right? I think that self-serving politicians of all stripes prefer closed doors, and civic minded people from both sides support open access laws. Making this into a partisan issue isn't going to advance the cause. Open access to government information should be a non-partisan no brainer. We all know we can't trust what the other guys are doing, so better to keep our eyes on them. :-)
Harcore environmentalists as as liberal as they come, and they are ALWAYS demanding documents from the government AND from private enterprise. Unigov, go to bed, would you please!
I have to agree totally with IPOPA. Working with the coalition of Republicans, Democrats and Libertarians, they all agreed on a number things - chiefly more open and accountable government. Open, transparent government is not a right v. left, conservative v. liberal issue.
AI,
As one of Bartlett's constituents, it nauseates me to know that he is against an open, transparent form of government.
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