Use FOIs to open county government (US)
Cook County Board Chairman Todd Stroger's stifling of department head responses to the Herald (July 6) is no doubt the beginning of the county "iron curtain" shielding its shady and clandestine operations.
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I'm counting on the Herald to exercise its FOI duties - Freedom of Information Act requests of the county budget, especially expenditures.
As I looked up the FOI on Attorney General Lisa Madigan's Web site, the quote from the act includes "... it is declared to be the public policy of the state of Illinois that all persons are entitled to full and complete information regarding the affairs of government ... Such access is necessary to enable the people to fulfill their duties of discussing public issues fully and freely, making informed political judgments and monitoring government to ensure that it is being conducted in the public interest."
"Illinois' Freedom of Information Act is intended to open the government to all citizens by guaranteeing access to governmental records in whatever form they are maintained.
"The act maintains a clear preference for access to public documents while still protecting legitimate governmental interests and the privacy rights of individual citizens."
Will our government bodies stand behind these statements and obey them?
I can't wait to try them out as a private citizen.
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