(Permission to use the following cartoon during Sunshine Week, March 16-22, 2008, has been granted by the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists and its participating members.)
This cartoon is based on the story headlined “Request Denied – We Just Want to Know What Happened to Our Son” published April 23, 2007, in the Springfield, Illinois, State Journal-Register online. Of course, that was in Illinois. It could never happen here …
Awesome!
I am so into Sunshine Week – and without much to my making!
I just called the clerk of the court in Bonner County, Marie Scott, to get her email address. It is not published on the county site. I wanted to email her a request to correct a public record. She told me that she does not do county business by email and I must fax her the document. Okay – I can handle that – however, I thought she was rude and indignant. I told her that our County Clerk has a public email address and she snipped back to me, ” I am not Dan English.”
Anyway, she hung up – so I called back to get her email address which is public. She instructed her staff not to divulge it.
So, I call the AG’s office in Boise and they gave it to me. I also called the city and county prosecuter’s in Bonner and the Commissioners. Evidently she can refuse to hand it out (there is no law that says she has to?) – you will need a public records request to get it from her. At this rate she might deny it even at that point.
My point – Is that behavior a deliberate attempt to curtail public access to her office? WOW – is that not the most bizarre way to do public business?
So please call if you are so feel inclined – and ask Marie Scott, County Clerk for Bonner, or her staff for her email address at (208) 265-1432 and let me know if they are now handing out the email address via a ‘public verbal request’ or not.
Comment by Stebbijo — March 17, 2008 @ 10:24 am
Stebbijo,
A more reasonable answer from her would have been to explain that email is not really reliable enough to be used to conduct official business. She could have explained what forms of communication are acceptable to her office. Finally, she could have asked for your email address so she could send an informal confirmation of receipt of your fax to you via email.
Comment by Bill — March 17, 2008 @ 11:33 am
Bill:
I have found that faxing is not all that reliable as well – but it would have been a more appropriate way of refusing my request. Confidential documents have been faxed in error to the wrong parties. It’s a catch 22 – however email correspondence is a accepted form of communication these days with attachments and proven trusted certificates – and even through ADA county for public records/corrections etc. requests.
I was asked before they put Marie Scott on the phone, “Does she know you personally?” I replied, “Should that matter?” For the record, I do not know Marie Scott personally – however, I know of her – because she is the Clerk of Bonner County and resides in my former hometown, Clark Fork, Idaho.
So – I surmize that maybe Marie Scott is using her gov email address for private use only – or for only priveledged contacts? Why the secrecy?
I have found that everything you do in Bonner County has to be hand stamped to prove receipt – which they will even put up a fuss about. They lose whatever they want to. This is one more reason to validate my claim that the County of Bonner is hostile and it sickens me.
Comment by Stebbijo — March 17, 2008 @ 11:52 am
Stebbijo,
You may not want to assume that Bonner County’s email system is as modern as you might hope. It’s usually a good idea to make contemporaneous notes about important contacts, requests, etc. with government agencies. Sometimes issues don’t arise until long after our memories of something have faded, and the notes can serve as a memory jogger.
Comment by Bill — March 17, 2008 @ 12:06 pm
Believe me Bill – I don’t assume anything in Bonner County is modern. They don’t want it to be – it holds them accountable.
No matter how ‘unmodern’ the thought process of a city clerk in Bonner County – I don’t see why they should deny the public that basic kind of information.
My email went through just fine. The secretary for the commissioners said she got it as well and forwarded it to them.
Comment by Stebbijo — March 17, 2008 @ 12:45 pm
UPDATE: I thought I would link this Idaho law to you all. At the end of it – this is what it says:
So – if anyone knows. Does county or city law/policy supercede state law in this case?
Comment by Stebbijo — March 19, 2008 @ 10:57 am
The way it’s worded, it sounds as if the decision how to respond rests with the public agency. You can request it electronically, and the agency can reply electronically if it chooses to, but the word “may” expresses a permission, not a requirement.
Comment by Bill — March 19, 2008 @ 1:21 pm
That’s I how looked at it – the “may” word leaves it open to interpretation. However – it does imply that the public “may” use the email form of communication. What I am trying to determine is if the county of Bonner has a specific policy or whatever that says they do not have to honor a “may” request from the public via email. I guess I will have to email the commissioners/city clerk to find out since I “may” do that. But they “may” not respond/reply.
But then with a county clerk snipping back “This is not Ada County, and I am not Dan English.” kind of lets me know how they will deal with any public records request via email or otherwize.
Looks like a deliberate attempt not to reply to any email at all – by refusing to give it out to the public. That is why I am asking folks to call Bonner County – Marie Scott, County Clerk for Bonner, or her staff for her email address at (208) 265-143 to see if I am just an isolated request.
Comment by Stebbijo — March 19, 2008 @ 2:35 pm
OOPS – Sorry. That is what I get when I am in a hurry – and at the same time do my day job.
The number is (208) 265-1432.
Please take the time and call – you do not have to identify yourself – just ask for the email address and see what happens and let me know at stebbijo@yahoo.com. Maybe they have ‘fixed’ it by now.
Comment by Stebbijo — March 19, 2008 @ 4:30 pm
Googling Marie + Scott + Bonner + County + Clerk + Email yielded –
BONNER
Clerk: Marie Scott……………………………………265-1432
215 S 1st Ave
Sandpoint ID 83864
E-Mail: mscott@co.bonner.id.us
This information is listed in the Judicial Districts Court Clerks directory at idaho.gov.
Is this what you were trying to find?
-c
Comment by critter — March 19, 2008 @ 5:32 pm
Well done, Critter! Now perhaps many people will email this public official.
Comment by mary — March 19, 2008 @ 6:08 pm
Thank you Critter! That’s awesome!
I did the search and found it as well. But until now – I could not find it anywhere. The AG’s office gave it to me.
I am going to make an image file of that pdf.file you found and add it to my post on my site. Why is she refusing to give her email address out verbally – that’s what I can’t figure out. She says she does not do county business with email but I wonder if that is really true. Maybe it’s just me. Call her and find out what she/the staff says if you want to go a step further.
Comment by Stebbijo — March 19, 2008 @ 6:13 pm