The state’s Right to Know Advisory Committee invites you to share your experiences – good and bad – with public access. Please respond.

When is a problem not a problem? When government says so, despite tales to the contrary.

Personal tales – no matter how disturbing or how poignant – are not enough when it comes to painting a picture of the public being denied access to records and meetings. It is going to take an avalanche of data to define that problem, and that avalanche is going to have to be launched from citizens themselves.

Fortunately, we now have a tool to do that. It’s a tool designed for public officials, but can be easily adapted for the public itself.

The newly created Right to Know Advisory Committee, created specifically to serve as a resource and adviser to lawmakers, government officials and the public on Maine’s Freedom of Access Act and public access issues, is soliciting input about Mainers’ experience with our state’s right to know laws at the local, county and state levels, with schools, town offices, state agencies, county offices and police departments. In particular, the committee is seeking “feedback on practical problems that may affect compliance with the law and suggestions for changes in the statutes or best practices among state agencies.”

Huh?

The committee is seeking suggestions for change. Have any ideas about how to establish best – or better – practices? Problems with compliance? Praise for procedures you know about in government offices? Anything to say at all on the subject?

The Maine Municipal Association lobby machine is steadfast in its belief that there are no problems with the implementation of Maine’s Freedom of Access Act. That any data collected by the Maine Freedom of Information Coalition or the state’s press is suspect and to be ignored and that training is already available to any public official who asks for it. Problem is, these officials don’t always ask for it and end up blocking public access because they simply don’t understand the law.

There is no question that most government officials are eager to work with citizens and comply with the law. When they don’t, it’s usually because they haven’t been trained and are unsure about how to respond. Once they know, they’re exceptionally good about it.

However, since there’s been no repository to collect real life tales about right to know problems and suggestions to improve access, MMA’s Legislative Policy Committee refuses to acknowledge work needs to be done and has repeatedly stood in the way of progress to improve Maine law in recent years.

If MMA won’t listen to organizations that work with the state’s right-to-know laws every day, then it must listen to the very people who are subjected to those laws and who have gained access or been denied access to public records or public meetings.

This isn’t a punitive survey. It’s a formal method to gather information that can be used to evaluate the state of Maine’s right to know laws and make FOAA work in Maine – for government and for citizens.

For instance, anyone who has any dealings with the Brunswick Town Office ought to take a moment to respond to the survey and point to those employees as examples to follow. Although not required, that town office has an FOI policy and implements regular training for its staff. It’s a pleasure to communicate with these employees and their citizens are better served because of this attention to FOAA compliance.

Places like Durham, where records were denied one homeowner who queried his neighbor’ property assessments and tax payments, could use a little work. Auburn is so notorious for flouting public meetings requirements that Rep. Deb Simpson – who lives in Auburn – pokes fun at her local government officials’ seeming commitment to secret meetings.

The Right to Know Advisory Committee is sincere in seeking input and I encourage you – whatever kind of experience you may have had – to share that so any changes made to Maine law are made with the best information possible.

The survey is posted on the advisory committee’s Web site at http://www.maine.gov/legis/opla/righttoknow.htm.

Please complete the survey by Jan. 15 online, by e-mail to [email protected], by fax at 287-1275, or by mailing to the Right to Know Advisory Committee c/o OPLA, 13 State House Station, Augusta, Maine 04333-0013.

As you might expect, all survey responses are open to public inspection under Maine’s Freedom of Access Act; but responses may be submitted anonymously by mail or fax.

Maine’s Freedom of Access Act was written to guarantee citizen access to public records and public meetings. It is citizens’ responsibility to maintain that guarantee, and this survey is a good tool for this work.

Judith Meyer is a managing editor of the Sun Journal, vice president of the Maine Freedom of Information Coalition and serves on the state’s Right to Know Advisory Committee.