Better Government Association

State closes doors on public records

Blagojevich broke promise for open government

BY JOHN O'CONNOR
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published on: Monday, March 12, 2007

SPRINGFIELD (AP) - Gov. Rod Blagojevich took office promising a new era of open government. He talked about weekly press briefings and a budget-making process that would be open to the public.

Instead, his administration has clamped down on sharing public information. It refuses to release government documents. It has defied the attorney general's legal opinions and punished people suspected of cooperating with reporters.

For example:

* After a prison psychologist in Dixon was held hostage for 25 hours and allegedly raped by a convicted sex offender, the Corrections Department withheld information on staffing levels that day and inmate assaults at the prison.

* Phone numbers that state employees dial on taxpayer-financed phones are off-limits to the public because releasing them would violate the Illinois Constitution, according to Blagojevich's Department of Transportation.

* The State Police won't release the arrest report on a Corrections Department chaplain who was pulled over for drunk driving in a state-owned car, saying it would be an "invasion of privacy."

* The Department of Central Management Services won't disclose the names of applicants for state jobs that wound up going to politically connected candidates, even though its own rules explicitly state that such lists are public record.

In denying requests under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act, the administration has sometimes changed its explanations and cited out-of-state court rulings that the attorney general says don't apply here. It even has suggested the law raises constitutional questions.

One Blagojevich agency clamped down after information about state contracts and audits was released to the public. Letters written by then-Secretary of Transportation Timothy Martin show that two employees were disciplined with transfers to new jobs because officials suspected they had tipped off The Associated Press about specific documents to request.

Many states have tightened public access to documents in recent years out of concern over terrorism, identity theft, medical privacy and other issues. A nationwide review by The Associated Press found that states have passed more than 600 laws restricting access since Sept. 11, 2001.

But in Illinois, the Blagojevich administration's restrictions began roughly around the same time it was disclosed that federal prosecutors were investigating hiring practices and a campaign-contribution kickback scheme at a state pension system.

Blagojevich spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff denied anything has changed.

"We are carefully trying to balance the need for transparency and openness with laws that require protection of private information," Ottenhoff said.

Those outside the administration, however, see it differently.

Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office has clashed with the governor's office over the release of documents. Her expert on public information issues has repeatedly advised the administration to release information, only to have the administration refuse.

Sauk Valley Newspapers has written about its dispute with the Corrections Department after the hostage-taking and assault last spring. The Illinois Press Association's list of the 10 worst instances of government secrecy last year included three decisions by Blagojevich agencies.

And the Better Government Association and another watchdog group have filed lawsuits because the administration refuses to release subpoenas it has received from the federal government.

The public's right to know, "includes the good stuff and the bad stuff," BGA Executive Director Jay Stewart said. "We're just trying to hold (Blagojevich) up to his own standards, his self-reported standards of excellence."

One of the most sweeping explanations for withholding documents came from Transportation officials, who said releasing lists of phone numbers called by six employees on state-issued telephones would violate the Constitution's separation-of-powers clause. Disclosing the records could lead reporters to question the people who received calls, "severely limiting the ability of executive branch employees to communicate with candor," the denial explained.

Attorney General Madigan's chief of staff, Ann Spillane, said IDOT is misinterpreting the law.

"If the separation of powers argument were true, the entire FOIA statute would be unconstitutional as applied to the executive branch because it would be a direction by the Legislature to the executive branch to disclose documents," Spillane said.

She also questions the decision by the Department of Central Management Services to withhold lists of applicants for state jobs. The agency's own administrative code states that such "eligibility lists" are public record.

CMS released one list in December 2005, but turned down later requests. It justified the refusals by citing an out-of-state court ruling on the federal FOIA law.

CMS spokesman Justin DeJong said the agency changed its mind about the job lists based on "additional legal review" - not because they might show who competed for jobs that were awarded to the son-in-law of a congressman and the son of a major Blagojevich campaign donor.

Similarly, Transportation officials released employee time-off documents in late 2005 but denied a subsequent request for the documents, which former transportation secretary Martin said contain the reasons employees take sick or vacation time, which can be personal. Martin did not explain why his agency didn't simply black out any personal information, as allowed under the FOIA law.