Transparency in Public Records--The AK Legislature is our only hope **UPDATE**

by: Celtic Diva

Mon Jan 25, 2010 at 05:41:17 AM AKST

The very same week we had a ruling that set back ethics 200 years coming out of the U.S. Supreme Court, the Alaska Superior Court delivered a set-back to government transparency:

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - An Alaska judge has sided with former Gov. Sarah Palin in a lawsuit over e-mail messages, finding that state law does not forbid the use of private e-mail accounts to conduct state business...

...The issue arose from a 2008 records request by Ms. McLeod that showed that Ms. Palin and members of her staff had been using private e-mail accounts. The traffic uncovered, though, was heavily redacted for what were deemed reasons of privacy. Ms. McLeod argued through her lawyer that use of private accounts obstructed the people's right to inspect public records.

(For those of you who have never seen a "redacted" public record, this is what one looks like:)

And Superior Court Judge McKay (yes, it's the same one with 2 DUIs) was quite clear into whose lap he was dropping this:

[State Asst. Attny Gen.] Mr. Mitchell said last month that if the use of private accounts were to be banned for state business, the Legislature, not a court, should say so.

On Friday, Judge McKay agreed.

"The language in our case is clear - the Legislature simply chose to give state agencies some discretion in determining which e-mails are worthy of preservation and which are not," he wrote. A records retention plan through the state archives also makes distinctions, he noted, and classifies messages not required to be retained as "transitory" messages, meant mainly for informal communications.

This is a blow to government transparency in Alaska...a State that may be one of the most corrupt/most secretive in the U.S.

So from this, we can determine three things:

1) The judge not only allowed state employees to hide records from the public by using private accounts, he also may have expanded the definition of "non-record" emails sent on state accounts.  As it stands now, the policy the State adopts regarding archived emails seems to interpret much more narrowly Alaska Statutes guidance on what are considered records.  Per the State policy:

What is Non-record e-mail?  
Non-record e-mail does not meet the definition of Record in AS 40.21.150(6) or AS 40.25.220(3).  Non-record e-mail includes personal messages, spam, extra copies of documents distributed or received for reference, listserv or bulletin board posts, and announcements unrelated to official business, like retirement parties or holiday celebrations.  Personal messages constitute non-records as they are not accounts or writings "developed or received by a public agency," and are not "preserved for their informational value or as evidence of the organization or operation of the public agency" under AS 40.25.110

I suspect the ruling will give folks more confidence in disposing of records that they may have previously questioned.  

(I also find it interesting that this clearly positive ruling towards Sarah Palin occurred days after an Alaska judge warranted a security detail because of threats stemming from the Palin v. Levi custody case.  Just sayin'...)

2)  The judge was clear that he believes Alaska Statutes allow State employees to police themselves, and;

3) The Judge made it clear that the Alaska Legislature is the only vehicle by which this practice can be changed permanently (Gov. Parnell has forbidden his employees from using private accounts to conduct State business...that will only last as long as he's Governor)

**The Legislature (I believe Rep. Mike Doogan) did submit a Bill last session regarding this topic, but I haven't heard anything about it yet this session. **

*******************************************UPDATE***************************************************

Rep. Doogan's HB 195 indeed addresses the issue of private v public emails directly:

* Section 1. AS 39.52 is amended by adding a new section to read:

04            Sec. 39.52.135. State electronic mail delivery systems required for official                              
05       action by electronic mail. (a) When taking or withholding official action, a public                            
06       officer may not send or cause another to send information by electronic transmission
07       within a system for electronic mail delivery unless the system is operated and                                    
08       maintained by the state.

It is currently sitting in the State Affairs Committee.

****************************************************************************************************

However, there is still one more lawsuit out there...the ruling I'm breathlessly waiting for:

Does being the husband of Gov. Sarah Palin give Todd Palin special access to internal communications off limits to the general public?

Andree McLeod, a former state worker turned activist, has gone to court arguing it does not. She is seeking an untold number of state e-mails that were copied to Todd Palin but withheld from a public records request she made in June.

"This latest refusal by the governor's office to hold back official state e-mails has left me no other choice," McLeod said. "And this is real important: The state can't cloak these communications in secrecy when the governor and her staff have broken the chain of custody by sharing them with a mere private citizen, who is not ... a state employee. Therefore, that entitles all citizens the right to examine these documents in the light of day."

In essence, McLeod is arguing that if Todd Palin was copied on the state e-mails, the governor's office can't keep them from the public for reasons such as "executive privilege" and "deliberative process."

As Attny Don Mitchell (McLeod's attorney for the email lawsuits) reported in an article on Mudflats in November "The legislation is ongoing."

I have a very good reason that I'm particularly interested in this second, yet-to-be-determined lawsuit.  It's one many of you will be interested in as well...the majority of the emails that "respond" to my email inquiry were redacted for "privilege."  

I admit that I expected a number of them to be redacted, but I NEVER expected this many...there are over 70!

They go from emails allegedly handling a "cleavage complaint"...something that was NEVER an official complaint but just an email to Annette Kreitzer used to try and discredit Andree McLeod...there should be no privilege attached (more news on this one later):

(click on the images to enlarge)

We have emails claiming privilege when they are discussing a "web column"--basically, the media and their coverage:

And then...my favorite...ones that claim "attorney-client privilege" when they are either missing an attorney, a client or both (between Linda Perez and Cheif of Staff Mike Nizich)!  Also, some have people on the CC who are neither:

The reason this ruling is so important (and I believed we'd have it by now) is Alaska Law in the area of privilege is a little bi-polar.  

--Fuller v. City of Homer which states in the court decision:  

We have repeatedly held that the [Alaska Public Records] act creates a presumption in favor of disclosure and that the act's implicit legislative policy of broad public access requires courts to narrowly construe exceptions to disclosure.10

--However, Gwich'in Steering Committee v. Office of the Governor states in its ruling that the "deliberative process" in the Governor's Office should be protected, even when the decision was already made:

The privilege may protect any governmental decisionmaking function, including the governor's policymaking and lobbying of either state or federal government.

Generally, it is difficult for a requestor to override a presumptive privilege. [Fn. 56]

For this reason, it's unlikely that any attorney will take another case dealing with privilege until they see the outcome of the one Don Mitchell and Andree McLeod is pursuing now.  This is true even though most people can look at this partial list of redacted emails and see the farce in claiming "privilege."

One prediction I will make:  I believe the unfortunate outcome of the first ruling may be that it effects the second--that the court defers to the Alaska Legislature.




(PS:  To all of you who have been asking--I appreciate your patience regarding my posting on the records request.  With everything going on, this post took me a long time (weeks) to write.  

There will be more to come.)

 

Look what you did!!!! Plus, responding to more obfuscation from the Office of the Gov.

by: Celtic Diva

Fri Jul 03, 2009 at 01:37:54 AM AKDT

First, let's gaze upon the fruits of ALL of your labor!!!!  On one hand, it made me feel REALLY good to see those numbers in writing!  I felt so proud of YOU FOLKS for doing this...it sure wasn't me!  

And I admit it, I felt a tad bit grateful to C4P and especially the Stapletongue for opening that gargantuan mouth and shortening our fundraiser probably by days!

However, all of that is replaced by the anger I feel over the games the Palin Administration plays on every level to keep their activities secret.  

Let's go back to several weeks ago, before icons and desecrations and pageant pictures in running magazines...back to trying to get over the initial shock of how much an "open and transparent Governor" actually costs a private citizen.

Let's go back to when we DARED to ask for a fee waiver and see the response!!!

UNDER $5.00??  Really???  So if Father Fiorelli at Our Lady of Perpetual Guilt made a records request of all emails dealing with charitable work, you guys would charge him if it was over $5.00???

Wow, that I'd like to see!!!!  Oh...but wait...it will cost me an arm and a leg to prove it, won't it?

Nice little racket you guys have going here!

Now comes the responses to my computer guru's questions:

Oh, yeah, that's much clearer and in layman's terms...except that it doesn't even make sense to the computer guys!

And I loved the part about "I don't have a breakdown of time for each task nor can I produce it.  We are not tracking our time to that level of detail..."

I see...so that's the story you give to the State budget people when one Department feels they are being overcharged for your services?  You are saying that you cannot provide them proof to the contrary?  Or is it that you just don't WANT to give them to us so that we cannot point out the amount of time you are charging us for overnight functions when no one is working...those labor-free calculations?  But that's covered in the next questions...

So the answer to #2 is "yes" and not-so-amazingly, so is the answer to #3!!!!!

"Reasonable processing time is chargeable..."  Realize, pretty much EVERY AGENCY does its "processing" overnight, while the IT department is at home in bed and if there is a night worker, he/she is reading a book or catching up on his/her email.  So exactly how is it "reasonable" to charge me $54.84/hr FOR UNMANNED COMPUTER CALCULATIONS??

Here's a direct response to this letter from a System Administrator at a government agency:

Getting someone's current email mailbox from the exchange email server should not be that lengthy of a task.  Even with a large mailbox, it is something that can be started and left to run.  Multiple mailboxes can be done at the same time.

Converting the e-mail to a .pst file would be part of pulling a user's email from teh exchange server.  There would be no need to convert it as a separate process.  Again, if it is going to take a while, it can be started and left alone until completed.  Multiple email accounts can be handled this way.

The SSO team uses this Paraben search tool to look for email.  It will only search "reasonable sized blocks" of data at a time.  This is really bizarre as using something like Microsoft Office Outlook will search the entire .pst at a time and you only have to start it once.  If you combined all the various .pst files into a single file, you could perform one search and be done with it.

Here are comments from a computer expert in the private sector regarding explanations given by the State's computer geniuses, Enterprise Technology Services:

They need the .PST files from Outlook for the individuals requested for that period of time, then run those files through Electronic Discovery software to put into a text searchable format. IPro EDD for example. This I know since I do it for a living every day. We do it all the time for attorneys.

Since it is unknown how many pages these collections will be, the onus is on THEM to meet the strictures of the narrowed request. That means they don't hand you a stack of 200,000 email and say "here you go", they just give you the ones responsive to the request. All the extra charges for winnowing through them should be born by the state and it's obviously outdated and ill equipped IT department. It is not your responsibility to pay for their inefficiency nor do you need an explaination of "boo-hoo our job is so hard". They're paid much better than I am and have state benefits. They should do their jobs before the F.B.I. marches in there, seizes it all and brings it to me to do their jobs for them.

Even with all the technical jargon, it's more than obvious that something stinks.

By the way, if you read this and YOU have any questions about the Office of the Governor's email and records request process, the Director of ETS (Information Technology) is:

Anand Dubey
anand.dubey@alaska.gov
(907)269-5744

Records Request--Quickie Update

by: Celtic Diva

Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 23:43:58 PM AKDT

I know you've all been waiting patiently for a number of things to happen:

--me to march down to the Governor's Office, check in hand

--your avatars to show up on your emails

--a post talking about all of the above.

However, here's the most pertinent information:

***THE MONEY IS IN THE BANK!!! It made it over from Paypal, WOOO HOOO!!!***

What I can tell you is that, after a three-week break, I'm now watching my friend's daughter again during the week.  As I don't want the kids' brains to rot while I'm constantly on the computer, I'm actually taking them places, doing things with them and working in the yard with them.

I'm also still waiting for the rest of the information to come in so I can do a complete post on all of this, including my response to their last letter and their "answers" to the computer questions.  (Still waiting for one of the "computer guys" to send me their response to ETS.)

Another thing I needed:  whose name is on the check?

I called Linda Perez yesterday then sent her an email today asking who I should make the check out to.  Here was her response this afternoon:

Hello Ms. Kellen,

I didn't receive a message yesterday, so my apology for not responding.  The check should be made payable to the State of Alaska and mailed to my attention at Office of the Governor, Division of Administrative Services, P.O. Box 110001, Juneau, AK 99811-0001.

Please call me at 465-3876 if you need any further information.

Thank you,

Linda Perez

So, they were quite clear about wanting the check sent to Juneau instead of bringing it to the Governor's Office here in Anchorage.

I talked to several people who are quite knowledgeable of records request issues.  While I was hesitant to put the check in the mail out of fear that it may be lost, they encouraged me to do that instead of taking it to the Governor's Office in Anchorage.  So, I'll be getting a cashier's check and mailing it certified, receipt requested.  That way, someone has to sign for it.

When I get the rest of the information I need (hopefully sometime late tonight) I can finish the letter I'll be sending with the check, get the check ready, take pictures of it, send it to Juneau and post all about it tomorrow!!!!

And regarding your avatars...they are coming along VERY slowly...the list is HUGE!  However, you should see some with more frequency very soon.  (Again, if you want a different one, email me with a screen name and let me know!)

 

Let's correct that misinformation out there about the "Palin photoshopping"**UPDATE**..

by: Celtic Diva

Sat Jun 27, 2009 at 10:57:52 AM AKDT

No, I am not.  The Democratic National Convention Committee selected 56 blogs as "State Blogs" to represent their states (and territories, and ex-patriots) at the Democratic National Convention in August 2008.  That was it!

Other info:  I'm a wife, mother of a beautiful daughter and a disabled person myself.  Any other biographical information can be found on the left-hand column of the blog.

What exactly is the story behind how the "photoshopped" picture came to be?

I was doing a fundraiser to gather the exorbitant monies needed for the release of public records from the Governor's Office ($5,552.64) -- a State of Alaska Record's Request.  Some of these emails involve Palin-worshipping talk-show-host Eddie Burke and Anchorage Daily News Gossip Columnist and Editor Sheila Toomey.  

I had already started so I really couldn't use any of the "thermometer" programs out there (tracks donations and creates a graph) because I had no idea how to make it count the money already in the Paypal account.  So, one of my readers offered to photoshop "thermometers" each day for me so the donors could have a visual of how we were doing.  He came up with a nice version of the State of Alaska for the second day (we skipped the first...I just put the total up without a thermometer).  I wanted to "take that image back" because Conservatives4Palin, a completely non-Alaskan blog, used it for their web-a-thon.   On the third day, he sent me the same graphic with the updated percentage, which I put on the blog.  Later, he sent the one in question which showed in a humorous way (we thought) the relationship between Palin and Burke.  He thought I should have a different one for every day. I didn't have a chance to use it then (I already had the other one up and was away from home) but I told him to do it again for the new percentage tomorrow.  He did and, well, you know the rest.

Here are all of the "thermometers" (click each one to enlarge):

We were both absolutely floored that anyone would take it for anything than what it was...poking fun at the Governor and Eddie Burke. We also realized that because of my "digging" and writing about the questionable activities of Governor Palin, they were just looking for anything they could twist to try and discredit me.

Why did you take the image down Wednesday night?  Was it because of pressure?

Absolutely not!  Dr. Chill (the reader in question) was sending me a new "thermometer image" each night after I sent him the total for the day.  So, there was no way that image was going to be up beyond Wednesday night anyway because it had the wrong percentage on it.  We weren't going to use that same image again, especially when Dr. Chill got the idea to use Burke in his controversial red t-shirt.  Besides, there really wasn't any pressure on Wednesday...it was just faux-outrage whining from a bunch of Palin-worshipping bloggers. It didn't really get interesting until Meg Stapleton put her foot in it on Thursday.

Have you apologized to anyone?  Do you intend to apologize?

We have nothing to apologize for...it's Conservatives4Palin, Meg Stapleton and the Governor who should be apologizing.  Blue Oasis is an Alaska blog with a mostly Alaska audience. (It fluctuates but it's usually about 65% as I've periodically tracked it.  That may have changed after this week.)  Alaskans "got it" completely because that's who we were targeting.  It was the faux outrage and the lies about the posting generated by Conservatives4Palin (run and read by mostly outsiders) and then kicked into the national media by Meg "the mouth" Stapleton at the behest of the Governor.  Any misunderstandings were the result of their collective thirst for tabloid fame and desire to twist any truth to discredit a critic.  Those who may have been offended were people who NEVER would have seen the picture otherwise and who were not the intended audience.

Was part of your response to Meg Stapleton really "You fail at life?"

NO...ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!!  I was NEVER asked for a response to Stapleton's diatribe nor did I post one on the blog.  The national media took a quote from an angry article posted 24 HOURS BEFORE STAPLETON'S STATEMENT WAS EVEN RELEASED that was completely directed at Conservatives4Palin and their frenzied smear campaign!!!  (The proof...look at the post date.) It was blogger-to-blogger!  No matter how much I may disagree with Governor Palin or Stapleton, that would never be part of any response to them.  

Will your blog continue to feature satire and satirical images?  

You betcha!

The caption writes itself...

**************************************UPDATE******************************

I'm adding my hands-down choice for best photoshop EVER!

This was from our friend Lazarhat over at OMFGAlaska (and who is also a diarist at Blue Oasis).  The disclaimer/caption is the best part:

(this image is intended as PARODY and as such is covered under US copyright fair use laws -- since it is PARODY, nothing PERSONAL is intended or implied. The opinion above is socio-political commentary and as such is covered by the US First Amendment right to free speech. And besides, I just think it's a cute image. Meg wooks sweepy)

Some interesting facts about the donations...how our garden has grown!

by: Celtic Diva

Fri Jun 26, 2009 at 09:12:46 AM AKDT

--I only received one donation over $150.00--it was for $250.00.  

--My rough (very rough) estimates are that 98% of all donations were $100.00 or under.  About 85% of all donations were under $100.00.  (Like I said, these are very rough right now)

--The largest number of donations by far were $25.00 and under.

--There were many people who gave more than once.  THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!

--The single biggest fundraising day...the first one, believe it or not!!!!  With the over 10,000 hit traffic I had yesterday, the first day still beat it...barely!  You guys TOTALLY ROCK!!!!!

Keep watch on the blog starting Monday.  As soon as the money transfers to my account, I'll be marching down to the State of Alaska offices!

WOOOOOOOOT!!!! WE'RE AT 100% !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

by: Celtic Diva

Thu Jun 25, 2009 at 17:03:08 PM AKDT

Thank you SO much guys!!!!

I'll change the banner when I get the new file from Dr. Chill.  We were going to change it but we've had a number of requests to keep the same "thermometer" that we have now, so we aim to please!

And now, we will celebrate by reading three stories from my wonderful fellow bloggers.

The first is from Phil over at Progressive Alaska which reprints a Blue Oasis post from January by BSN Lee Tompkins, who talks about the medical implications of Sarah Palin's "wild ride" from Texas leading up to Trig's birth.  Were those the actions of a loving mother?

The second is a Huffington Post article done by Mudflats which is probably the best summary of this whole situation out there.  

The third is from Wonkette because I love it when the national politicos "get it!"  So far CNN and MSNBC have completely missed the mark.

Here's just a tantalizing nibblet from Wonkette:

Famous bad mother Sarah Palin, hot off her successful campaign to fire David Letterman, from television, is now yelling about how some other random person hates or rapes her children. See that photoshop up there of Governor Palin with Bristol Palin's child, Trig? We thought "Verne Troyer" too, but no, it is the head of conservative Alaskan radio host Eddie Burke, who is in love with Sarah Palin. The terrifying graphic is the work of "the liberal Alaskan blogger, Celtic Diva," who earlier this month pushed some other story about Todd's snowmobiling clothes. Now Palin has denounced the blogger through her evil spokesperson Meg Stapleton, who released a statement saying, "The mere idea of someone doctoring the photo of a special needs baby is appalling." Oh.. oh MEG.

I especially love some of the quotes:

"Dueling emo govs?"

"What's next, btw, "Palin Takes On Rude Construction Workers?"

"I have unending sympathy for any child born with the horrible affliction of having Sarah Palin as a mother."

"That's Megan Stapleton! Don't call her Meg! Who told you could call her Meg? Don't ever call her Meg! Whoever told you it was "OK" to call her Meg set you up."

"Okay, sure, whatever, I'm on board with restoring decency and "real" tolerance. So as soon as Sarah Palin gets down on her knees and licks Obama's new French shoes - literally, and repeatedly - to apologize for encouraging those violence-bent cracker mobs that came out to see her in the fall, then we can start negotiations on the moral compass thing."

Anyway, go read up on these stories and I hope to have some new, exciting information for you tomorrow!

And by the way...YOU ALL ROCK!!!!!!!!!!!

New total...new percentage...new "thermometer" -- Thanks to EVERYONE for your help!

by: Celtic Diva

Thu Jun 25, 2009 at 01:00:13 AM AKDT

Yup, Governor, that's your boy!!!!!  

Besides, if I had photoshopped it, "racist" would be spelled correctly.

And the total after Day 2 (June 21st) of the Fund Raising Drive is...**FAQ UPDATED**

by: Celtic Diva

Mon Jun 22, 2009 at 00:21:29 AM AKDT

$2,478.00!!!!!

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU and PLEASE KEEP IT GOING!!!!!

For those who wanted to see it in thermometer form, please everyone LOOK UP at the banner on top and give a big hand to Dr. Chill!  He's promised that he'll do one for me tomorrow as well!

I just got home from our trip, I'm exhausted, I need a shower and to go to bed, but I wanted you guys to have this info right away.  I'll post tomorrow about the trip and some things I've learned.

Night, all!!!!

****UPDATE****I updated the FAQs and am running errands like crazy.  I will be posting about trip and other stuff tonight.  Don't worry too much about the Neanderthals, they know as much about tax code as they do about anything else in Alaska...absolutely nothing!

Help shine a light on the Palin Administration--FAQs about this fundraiser

by: Celtic Diva

Fri Jun 19, 2009 at 14:32:12 PM AKDT

What is this fund for?

The primary focus of this fundraising drive is to collect the $5,552.64 fee needed for the Palin Administration to release records of potentially questionable conversations between with "preferred" members of the media.  The posts on this can be found **HERE** and HERE**. While this is my regular PayPal account that I use for blog expenses, they money I'm raising now is to go for the release of the emails involved in the records request.

I don't have a PayPal account nor do I want one.  Can I donate another way?

-- You don't need a PayPal account to give through PayPal.

-- I know there are those who do not wish to do financial transactions on line.  I will have a P.O. Box posted by this evening (June 22nd).

Is this tax deductable?

At this time, no.  I will end up reporting this as income on my taxes just like I did with the blog and other donations (to go to the Convention) I received last year.

What are your plans for fund accountability?

I will pay the State in person and get a receipt, which I'll scan-in and post on the blog in a place of honor to show you all what you've accomplished!

The beauty of PayPal is they have all the account activity records online for as long as the account has existed. So, in case there is a need to provide a list of transactions and dates, I can do that anytime.

**NOTE** I will NOT release the names or other information about ANYONE who gives to this fund drive.  These are NOT political contributions.  This is money raised to pay for the unreasonable fees charged by the Palin Administration in a records request per Alaska Statute 40.25.110 Public Records Open to Inspection and Copying; Fees.  This is (supposed to be) a non-partisan process that provides public information for minimal cost in a reasonable amount of time.  However, the Palin Administration has made obfuscation their mantra.

What if all the emails are redacted?  What if they continue to delay like they have done with the Democratic Party?  Will this be in vain?

It is definitely NOT in the long-term best interest of the Palin Administration to try and claim "Executive Privilege" on emails between or about a radio personality and a newspaper gossip columnist.  It's also not in the best interest to show a pattern of delay when they are supposed to be meeting their statutory responsibilities.  I will be writing and providing information about EVERY STEP of this process FOR THE RECORD, which is something I don't think anyone has done before.  The only way I can do that is to keep following through with the next step.  

As we in Alaska learned up-close-and-personally with Sarah Palin's VP candidacy, the national media researches EVERY INCH of that record when someone attempts to run for national office.    

No, this MOST DEFINITELY will not be in vain, no matter what the outcome.

AVATARS AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION AFTER A DONATION IS MADE:

Dolphin -- Friendship, intelligence and good luck

Wolf -- a cunning, intelligent creature, capable of out-thinking hunters. It teaches us how to read the signs of Nature in everything, how to pass by danger invisibly, how to outwit those who wish harm, and how to fight when needed.

Owl -- a creature of keen sight in darkness, and a silent and swift hunter. It can unmask those who would deceive or take advantage

Dragon -- The dragon symbolized the power of the Elements, especially Earth and Fire, as well as treasure and prosperity

Unicorn -- the symbol of supreme magical power.

So please help us make Palin accountable by helping us get those emails!