Atty. general candidates need to start sharing views on corruption
The excerpt above is what greets you when you go to the Illinois Attorney General’s Public Access Counselor page.
How apropos. And how timely. Right now, candidates are filing forms and petitions to seek office as the state’s next attorney general following LisaMadigan’s surprise announcement that she would not seek a fifth term.
We’ll hear a ton about the candidates running for governor over the next several months, as we should. We’ll hear much less about the attorney general race. That’s a shame because it’s an absolutely crucial office and election for voters to study.
The next Illinois attorney general will need to decide not just whether and how often to fight President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, but also whether and how hard to push to hold Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel accountable when it comes to police discipline in the wake of the Laquan McDonald shooting and several others. The next attorney general can decide whether she or he wants to tackle corruption throughout Illinois, or whether to make consumer protection a priority, or whether and how much to focus resources in the office on fighting and defending the OpenMeetings Act ( OMA) and the Freedom of information Act ( FOIA).
At the Better Government Association, we believe protecting and defending FOIA and OMA are vital, and we think you should share that belief.
As the excerpt above from the state law on open meetings puts it, “public bodies exist to aid in the conduct of the people’s business.” The people have a right to know what business is being conducted on their behalf. Despite the existence in Illinois of the Freedom of Information Act and the Open Meetings Act, public officials at all levels of government frequently try to hide your business from you.
The BGA had to fight for five years’ worth of files from fatal shootings by police officers, for example. Since 2007, it has had to resort to suing 52 times for records from the mayor, governor and comptroller, Navy Pier officials, the village of Rosemont, the Cook County state’s attorney, and many others. Most recently, the BGA filed suit to fight for the release of records from Chicago Public Schools related to the drowning of a disabled boy. Its investigative unit regularly pushes to get access to documents that shed light on critical functions of your government. Citizens and journalists statewide frequently seek rulings from the attorney general’s public access counselor ( PAC) to try to compel officials or public bodies to release information about the work they’re doing on our behalf.
In 2009, Madigan notes, she worked with lawmakers to update state law to make permanent the position of public access counselor within the attorney general’s office. The counselor’s office in some years has had a hefty backlog of requests. The public access counselor has a staff of 14 lawyers and a budget of less than $ 1 million. Will the next attorney general ensure the office is properly funded and staffed? Will she or he making fighting to keep government open, accessible and corruption- free a real priority?
In 2016, the last year for which records are available, the public access counselor logged more than 4,700 requests for help from citizens, some of whom are members of the media. That year, after the BGA and the Chicago Tribune spent countless hours pushing the matter, the PAC issued a binding opinion that emails sent or received on personal devices by public officials relating to public business are, indeed, subject to disclosure. We have a right to know what our public officials are saying and doing on our behalf, whether it’s done on a personal email account or a public one, from a private iPhone, or a public laptop.
In that year, the PAC took in nearly 400 requests for help each month. Of 4,354 requests for help with FOIA in 2016, 3,650 came from average citizens, 681 came from journalists and 33 came from public bodies. Of 366 requests for help with OMA, 297 came from citizens, 66 from citizens who are journalists and three came from other government bodies.
Defending and interpreting FOIA and OMA are essential functions of the attorney general’s office. FOIA and OMA are the cornerstones to building transparent, accountable governments that work for us. Fighting public corruption can be, too.
Two of those seeking the office, state Rep. Scott Drury and Renato Marriotti, are former federal prosecutors. Will they make corruption fighting within Illinois a priority?
Others expressing interest in the office include: Aaron Goldstein, defense attorney for former Gov. Rod Blagojevich; former police oversight agency leader Sharon Fairley; state Sen. Kwame Raoul; Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering; former Gov. Pat Quinn; Park District Board President Jesse Ruiz; and Champaign County lawyer Erika Harold.
What are their views on public corruption, OMA and FOIA? It’s time we all start finding out.