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IDOG seminar trains highway district clerks

November 16, 2007 by
Highway Clerks 1

About 80 clerks from highway districts around the state participated in an IDOG seminar on open records on Nov. 14, 2007, at the Doubletree Hotel Riverside in Boise. The seminar was conducted by Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden, Deputy Attorney General Bill von Tagen, and IDOG President Betsy Russell.

The session came during the annual meeting of the state’s highway districts, and was sought by Stuart Davis, executive director of the Idaho Association of Highway Districts. The day allowed time only for half of the regular IDOG seminar – the part on open public records – but the question-and-answer session and handouts also included information on Idaho’s Open Meeting Law, and the highway districts have asked IDOG to come back next year and give the full presentation on both laws.

Highway Clerks 2

Davis said the handouts, including the Attorney General’s Idaho Open Meeting Law Manual and Idaho Public Records Law Manual, were the best publications on the topic he’s ever seen, and he now feels much better equipped to advise his member highway districts on questions relating to open records and meetings. All the clerks left with copies of both manuals.

Highway Clerks 3

Highway district clerks from all parts of the state participated in the seminar, and some even portrayed characters in the seminar’s audience-participation skits, from “Earnest the Rookie Reporter” to “Undertrained, the Overly Cautious Clerk.” The session combined laughs with learning on an important topic for these key government employees who are on the front lines for compliance with Idaho’s open meetings and public records laws.

Filed Under: Past Seminars

Sali hurt public’s right to know

November 11, 2007 by

By Kevin Richert

From the Idaho Statesman

Today we catch up, belatedly, on another unusual “no” vote from 1st District Rep. Bill Sali. Sali was among just 21 House members to vote no on HR 2102, a federal “shield law” governing journalists’ ability to protect the anonymity of unnamed sources.

The bill passed the House on Oct. 16; to his credit, 2nd District Rep. Mike Simpson voted yes. I can hear the Sali defenders now. “Oh, now Sali’s done it: he has voted against a media bill, ticking off all those reporters and pundits who have never liked him in the first place.”

First off, I’ll defend a Sali no vote when he has a good explanation for it (as I did recently, when I said I could understand his no vote on the State Children’s Health Insurance Program expansion bill and the cigarette tax increase that went with it). And second, an effective shield law isn’t just a media bill. In protecting journalists’ ability to report on sensitive stories, shield law honors the public’s right to know.

Here’s how spokesman Wayne Hoffman explains Sali’s vote: “The congressman was concerned that the bill would encourage the leaking of classified material. At the same time, there’s a concern that the bill would set so high a bar as to discourage investigations and prosecutions of such leaks.”

I can appreciate Sali’s concerns, but I don’t just disagree with his interpretation of HR 2012. This is no get-out-of-jail (or stay-out-of-jail) card for journalists. Reporters could be forced to reveal their sources for reasons of national security; if disclosure is “necessary to prevent imminent death or significant bodily harm;” and if disclosure is in the public interest, “taking into account both the public interest in compelling disclosure and the public interest in gathering news and maintaining the free flow of information.”

This is a balancing act, as HR 2102 seems to recognize. This balance is important even during – and especially during – a nebulous and ongoing war on terror.

Kevin Richert: 377-6437

From the Idaho Statesman

Filed Under: Articles