Older Open Government news:
2008


Oct 16: 'Good government' groups
Local nonprofit organizations take different approaches to election endorsements

Catherine Turcer, Director of Ohio Citizen Action's Money in Politics project

CINCINNATI --"Good Neighbor Campaigns, which make up the bulk of Ohio Citizen Action’s work, attempt to build partnerships between polluting companies and community residents to bring about meaningful and long-lasting environmental improvements. Those issues, Catherine Turcer [director of the Money in Politics project] says, cross party lines. 'When we did endorse, people were annoyed,' she says. 'It has to do with people who work on pushing a local polluter. You’re asking a company to be a good neighbor and this is not a left or right issue, this is about people breathing and their kids growing up healthy and strong. They’re both Democrats and Republicans.' The 'Money in Politics' program is all about holding elected officials and government accountable, but not exclusively regarding environmental issues. 'Let’s work for things that really work to change the system,' Turcer says. 'In the past 10 years we decided we need to think about open records and open government and ethics in government, how lobbyist behavior affects things. How about basic election administration? It’s a project that is about the entire system working the best it can," Margo Pierce, CityBeat.

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Aug 13: Blog: Think tank launches openness initiative

COLUMBUS -- "While generally conservative and reliably Republican in its outlook, the Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions is rallying behind a concept all can support -- transparency and openness in government. The Columbus think tank has announced the formation of its Center for Transparent and Accountable Government, directed by former reporter Mike Maurer. The center plans to collect government information of all kinds and post it online so it can be easily available to Ohioans," Randy Ludlow, The Columbus Dispatch. Posted August 12.

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Aug 8: Editorial: Open access
Judge's ruling preserves citizens' right to records of public institutions.

COLUMBUS -- "Public records have to remain public, even when their content makes some people uncomfortable. Without access to this information, anyone who wants to monitor the performance of public institutions would have a hard time doing so. Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Richard A. Frye reinforced this core open-government principle last week, when he ruled that the Dublin City School District did nothing wrong by releasing its student directory to news outlets, including The Dispatch," The Columbus Dispatch.

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July 31: WBNS 10TV posts video of "See where your contributions are really going."

COLUMBUS -- "10 Investigates found a near epidemic of questionable spending of campaign contributions. Some of the contributions included Ohio State football tickets, fancy and ordinary dinners, trips to the bar and staff parties, 10 Investigates' Paul Aker reported," The Columbus Dispatch.

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July 23: Report on campaign contributions catches wathcdog eye

COLUMBUS -- "A 10 Investigates report that exposed questionable purchases by state lawmakers drew questions from at least one state watchdog on Tuesday. In a previous report, 10 Investigates found some state lawmakers using campaign contributions to pay for things like country club dues, season tickets to Ohio State football games, car payments and even a trip to the Fiesta Bowl. On Tuesday a taxpayer watchdog said regulators weren’t getting the job done, or the law is being broken," Paul Aker, WBNS 10TV. Posted July 22

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July 22: See where your campaign contributions are really going

COLUMBUS -- "10 Investigates found a near epidemic of questionable spending of campaign contributions. Some of the contributions included Ohio State football tickets, fancy and ordinary dinners, trips to the bar and staff parties, 10 Investigates' Paul Aker reported.... To determine how the money was used, we went through scores of publicly filed campaign expense reports. Then we tracked down exactly how much money was spent," Paul Aker, WBNS 10TV. Posted July 21

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