Better Government Association

Openness vows by gov give way to self-interest

March 15, 2007

Edtitorials

The issue: Gov. Blagojecvich increasingly has violated his own promises to make Illinois government more open and guarantee public access to records.

We say: Such policies are self-serving, designed to protect the governor and his associates, not the interests of residents of Illinois.

With Rod Blagojevich, you have to pay attention to what he does, not necessarily what he says.

A case in point is the governor's record on access to government records. Blagojevich came into office pledging to run an open, accessible government -- much like his promise to put an end to the "old way of doing business," marked by insider deals and political influence.

Early on in his administration, Blagojevich seemed to be following through on his vow to run an open government. He signed into law a pair of important new measures that won applause from advocates of public access and opponents of government secrecy. He supported and signed into law the "verbatim record" law that requires government agencies that meet in secret to keep word-for-word transcripts of what happens during such meetings. Those records are available to judges in the event that the agencies' secret actions become an issue. Blagojevich also signed a law that allows plaintiffs in Freedom of Information Act lawsuits to be awarded attorney's fees and costs if it is proven that a public body violated the FOIA.

But as the The Associated Press reported last weekend, Blagojevich more recently has refused to release public documents, and his agencies in some cases have violated their own rules on such matters. The report detailed a list of instances in which the state has denied FOIA requests and even disciplined employees who were suspected of tipping off reporters about incriminating documents. And early this year, the Better Government Association filed a lawsuit seeking to force the governor to reveal what state records have been subpoenaed by the federal government as part of its investigation of state hiring practices. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, who is by law the governor's legal adviser, issued an opinion that such subpoenas are public documents subject to FOIA. No only has Blagojevich refused to follow the attorney general's advice, he is seeking court permission to replace Madigan as his legal adviser with someone who will give him the advice he wants to hear -- that is, that he can continue to keep the subpoenas secret.

The AP report, published Sunday in the Daily Southtown, noted that the Blagojevich administration began restricting access to public documents about the time that is became known that the feds were investigating the administration's hiring practices and a "campaign-contribution kickback scheme at a state pension system."

The governor's people say they're just trying to balance the need for openness with the right to privacy, which also is protected by law.

But too often this concern for privacy rights is being invoked to protect the "privacy" of state workers accused of inappropriate or illegal acts.

That fact is that the governor was right when he vowed to increase access to government records and documents. The residents of Illinois, who pay the bills, have a right to know what government workers and politicians are doing with their money and in their name. The governor's claims to be concerned about privacy serve his personal interests, not the public's.