DC FOI Hearing

Press Panel Tells D.C. Council FOI Compliance is Lacking

     A panel of newspaper executives organized by MDDC Press Association told a committee of the Council of the District of Columbia Oct. 12 that government compliance with the district’s Freedom of Information Act often leaves much to be desired.
      The press panel was one of several that appeared at the day-long public oversight hearings on the district’s FOIA conducted by Councilmember Kathy Patterson, chair of the Committee on Government Operations.
     The hearings focused on the extent of FOIA compliance by the district government and the need for legislative reform.
     Press panel members testifying about problems their papers have encountered with the district’s law were Carol Melamed, vice president/government relations of The Washington Post and chair of the MDDC Government Affairs Committee; Ken McIntyre, assistant managing editor/special projects of The Washington Times; Brian DuBose, assistant editor of The Afro-American Newspaper in the district; Kathryn Sinzinger, editor and publisher of The Common Denominator in the district.
     Also on the press panel was MDDC Executive Director Jim Donahue, who described the public records audit conducted last summer by 20 newspapers in Maryland. In the aftermath of the audit, in which access to public records was only granted in 50 percent of the cases, leading state government officials and representatives of city and county employees are working with the press to educate state workers on the law and the need for compliance. (See story, page 1.) Donahue suggested that kind of a cooperative effort might be of interest to district officials concerned about its FOI problems.
     Committee Chair Patterson noted that in preparation for the hearings her committee staff conducted a "mini audit" at six district agencies to test responsiveness to requests for public documents. Only three provided "reasonably ready access to documents," she said.
     Patterson also has introduced a bill – the Freedom of Information Amendment Act of 2000, Bill 13-829 – that would strengthen the district’s FOIA in many ways. Press witnesses that addressed the bill generally supported its provisions.