Fresh Loaf

Dale Russell of Fox5 Atlanta has an investigative report airing tonight at 6 and 10 p.m. that looks into DOT Commissioner Gena Evans (nee Abraham) and explicit e-mails she sent to former boyfriends when she worked at different state agencies. If they’re the same ones reported late last week by WSB’s Richard Belcher, then they’re sexual in nature.

Evans has denied she did anything wrong and has understandably questioned who’s behind the examination of her past. The commissioner’s widely considered a reformer at the uber-powerful and long-beleaguered state agency. It’s been rumored, however, that her appointment angered many proponents of the status quo. Whatever the case, word is that some high-level folks are keeping an eye on this item. UPDATE: Galloway says the DOT Board will discuss the e-mails in a closed-door session on Nov. 13.

Says Russell:

It began with a computer disk with hundreds of e-mails written by DOT Commissioner Gena Evans. Written, before she was at the DOT, while working at other state agencies. Written on state computers, often during office hours. Many are personal. Some, very personal, even sexually explicit. They took us on a trail to personal relationships that some say conflicted with her professional responsibilities.

Click here to check out Russell’s preview of the report. (I was going to say “tease,” but that just seems too easy in this case.) Click here to view what aired on WSB.

The look into the e-mails — which were unearthed by Open Records enthusiast George Anderson  — has generated an interesting discussion on Peach Pundit and Live Apartment Fire. (Dale at LAF examines the newsroom decisions that led to the airing of the e-mails; Erick at PP says he thinks reporters are being led on a witch hunt by enemies of Evans.)

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Government operating budgets are, by law, public information.

Decatur posts its budget online. So does the state. Even the $3 zillion federal budget is available online.

The city of Atlanta’s budget is not online. Worse yet, the city will not show it to me.

On Feb. 21, I called several people at the Department of Finance. No one with a copy of the budget picked up the phone or returned my calls.

Last week, I complained to Mayor Franklin’s office, which prompted a phone call from Margaret Crenshaw, director of the office of administrative and legislative services in the finance department.

Crenshaw told me I’d have to pay a per-page fee, even for a digital copy of the budget. She also asked me to submit a written Open Records Request.

I sent such a request to Crenshaw on Feb. 26. She has not yet responded.

According to the Georgia Open Records Act, Crenshaw’s office had three days to honor my request, or cite a provision under state law that would prevent her office producing the public documents I requested.

Whether it’s the result of incompetence, malice, or a combination of both, the city’s failure to share public information is obnoxious. The city is facing a budget crisis brought on, at least in part, by mismanagement. With severe budget cuts on the way, the public has an interest in knowing how the city is spending public money.

Is the city hiding the budget from everyone? Is it something I said? Are they waiting for someone from the Geek Squad to show up and teach them how to e-mail PDFs?

For now, all I can do is complain. Sadly, the Georgia Open Records Act is toothless. The fine for hiding public records is a measly $100.

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State Rep. Jill Chambers, R-DeKalb, concedes that her upcoming bill to strengthen penalties for open-records scofflaws will probably not make it to the House floor in as tough a form as it is now. As proposed, the bill, which CL wrote about here, would make intentional violations of the state open-records laws a felony. That’s likely wishful thinking, Chambers announced today at a work session for the bill that attracted a collection of news reporters, state lawyers and representatives from the GBI, the League of Women Voters and Common Cause.

“The felony provision probably won’t survive the legislative process,” she said. “But it served to get people’s attention.”

Chambers would like to shoot for making violations at least a high and aggravated misdemeanor, but she said she wouldn’t sit by and watch her bill gutted by lawmakers who want to preserve the status quo of wrist-slaps for state departments and elected officials who brazenly defy sunshine laws. Currently, the highest fine the state imposes for withholding public information is $500.

“If this bill gets hijacked or weakened too much, I’ll pull it and kill it,” Chambers said. “We want to err on the side of open records.”

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We’re barely into November, but already some folks can’t wait for the festivities to start. We’re talking, of course, about the General Assembly, and the folks in question are lawmakers touting their legislative agendas. We haven’t seen any pre-filed bills yet, but one DeKalb House Republican is already showing her hand a good two months before the beginning of the session.
Rep. Jill Chambers wants to ratchet up the penalties for those who knowingly violate the state’s Open Records Act. What a capitol idea! She hasn’t drafted her bill yet — in fact, she’s announced that she’s throwing “parties” to solicit ideas on how to overhaul the act — but she wants to increase the charge from a misdemeanor to a felony.
In blog posts and e-mails, Chambers explains that she’s been frustrated with politicians who willfully flout the law because the penalties are so meager. She cites the illegal, closed-door meetings in August by the Doraville City Council, during which three members tried to oust the police chief.

She’d like to see potential fines of a flagrant Open Records violation increased from $100 to $5,000.

(more…)

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