Boston Globe: Public records undergird R.I.’s biggest news stories

On the podcast, Common Cause Rhode Island Executive Director John M. Marion noted that the vegan cheese scandal might have remained a secret if the public records law had not been changed in 2012 to create a balancing test between privacy rights and the public interest.

“There’s extreme public interest on what happened on that trip,” Common Cause Rhode Island Executive Director John M. Marion said, noting that one of the former state officials, David Patten, was recently fined $5,000 by the state Ethics Commission for accepting a free lunch at an upscale Sicilian restaurant during that trip. ”So great example of sort of how public records get us information that holds government officials accountable.”

He noted that Governor Daniel J. McKee refused to disclose an email alleging sexist, racist, and otherwise inappropriate comments made during the Philadelphia business trip by two top state officials. But after WPRI-12 and the Providence Journal filed complaints, Attorney General Peter F. Neronha applied the balancing test and ruled that the email had to be released.

“There’s extreme public interest on what happened on that trip,” Marion said, noting that one of the former state officials, David Patten, was recently fined $5,000 by the state Ethics Commission for accepting a free lunch at an upscale Sicilian restaurant during that trip. ”So great example of sort of how public records get us information that holds government officials accountable.”

“The signal went out that the administration opposes this,” Marion said. “I counted 38 pages of testimony against. This is a law that touches every government agency, because every government agency has to be responsible for providing records, and you’re pushing them to do something new. It’s going to be seen as a challenge.”

But, he said, “There hasn’t really been any pushback that we’ve seen from the public.”

 

To read the full article or listen to the podcast, click here.