Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist

Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist
Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Md Troopers Assoc #20 & Westminster Md Fire Dept Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist
Showing posts with label Westminster govt open transparent. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Westminster govt open transparent. Show all posts

Friday, July 09, 2010

Carroll County Times: Westminster MD’s Disregard for open government

Disregard for open government

Friday, July 9, 2010 1:00 am

http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/article_71eb2fb2-8aa5-11df-975e-001cc4c002e0.html

Editorial

Westminster government's slow reaction to a Times Public Information Act request for the city's general ledger, and the city's general disregard for open government, is not only a violation of state law, it raises some troubling questions about how things are being run at 1838 Emerald Hill Lane.

On June 3, the Carroll County Times sent a PIA request to Westminster City Administrator Marge Wolf, the city's custodian of records, Mayor Kevin Utz and City Attorney Elissa Levan for its general ledger, an accounting document that lists every account a government maintains and each transaction that occurred under each account.

The Maryland Public Information Act requires the custodian of records grant or deny a request within 30 days, and if the request is denied, provide a reason why. The law also says the records must be produced, if the request is approved, within 30 days.

http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/article_71eb2fb2-8aa5-11df-975e-001cc4c002e0.html

20100709 CCTed Disregard for open government

Carroll County Times: Westminster MD’s Disregard for open government http://tinyurl.com/2ey89z8

http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2010/07/carroll-county-times-westminster-mds.html http://tinyurl.com/2ey89z8

LABELS: NEWSPAPERS CARROLL COUNTY TIMES, PUBLIC INFORMATION ACT,WESTMINSTER GOVT, WESTMINSTER GOVT OPEN TRANSPARENT

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Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/ = http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/ or http://kevindayhoffart.com/ = http://www.kevindayhoff.com/ Kevin Dayhoff Westminster: http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/ or http://www.westgov.net/ = www.kevindayhoff.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoff Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net Explore Carroll: www.explorecarroll.com The Tentacle: www.thetentacle.com

Thursday, July 08, 2010

Westminster slow on Public Information Act request

Westminster slow on Public Information Act request

Thursday, July 8, 2010 By Marc Shapiro, Times Staff Writer

http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/news/local/article_558b96c4-8a30-11df-a3e0-001cc4c002e0.html

While most towns in Carroll County, as well as the county government, have financial documents easily accessible, the city of Westminster has not responded to a Public Information Act request filed more than 30 days ago, a violation of state law.

A recent survey of Carroll County municipalities, county government and the city of Frederick showed how easy, or hard, it can be to get financial documents from public officials.

The Carroll County Times sent a PIA request to Westminster City Administrator Marge Wolf, who is the city's custodian of records, Mayor Kevin Utz and City Attorney Elissa Levan on June 3 for its general ledger and comparative analysis for the most recent available month, preferably in electronic form if available.

As of 6 p.m. Wednesday, the Times had not received a definitive response from Wolf.

On June 8, Wolf said Westminster would have to hire someone to look through various documents in order to produce a general ledger and comparative analysis, and that she was going to come up with a price for it.

On June 23, Wolf said Levan just got back from vacation and they were to talk that afternoon. On July 1, Wolf didn't have anything new to report, and said the PIA request was at the top of her list to talk with Levan about on July 6. She did not explain why it wasn't discussed on June 23.

Wolf did not return phone calls seeking comment on Wednesday.

Officials from other towns and cities, as well as county government, say they have these documents readily available…
http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/news/local/article_558b96c4-8a30-11df-a3e0-001cc4c002e0.html

20100708 CCT Shapiro Westminster slow on PIA request

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Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/ = http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/ or http://kevindayhoffart.com/ = http://www.kevindayhoff.com/ Kevin Dayhoff Westminster: http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/ or http://www.westgov.net/ = www.kevindayhoff.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoff Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net Explore Carroll: www.explorecarroll.com The Tentacle: www.thetentacle.com

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Share budget info online Carroll County Times Editorial for Tues., March 17, 2009


I just re-read this Carroll County Times Editorial for Tuesday, March 17, 2009. The focus of much of the conversation in the community this year is once again how “exciting” the budget process will be in Westminster this year.

In the last several years it has been the object of great secrecy, drama, and opaque politics of ginormous byzantine proportions.

To be certain the budget will once again be just as difficult as ever, yet city officials have garnered little in the way of sympathy in that the last several years the attitude of city officials has been obdurate, obstinate, boorish, mean-spirited, and adversarial. And that is just for starters…


Carroll County Times Editorial for Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Share budget info online


As Carroll’s municipal and county governments begin the process of working through the next fiscal year’s budget, utilizing their Web sites to ensure that the public has easy access to budget documents is an easy way to encourage more citizen input.

Some government bodies in Carroll do a better job than others in encouraging public participation. A few post their proposed budgets online, where residents can easily access them. Others make residents jump through hoops to get what should be a common public document.

[…]

In some cases, Carroll’s municipal officials have even actively tried to block the public from seeing budget information.
[I’ll bet the editorial writer is referring to the city of Westminster – for which the budget process has been shrouded in intrigue and incompetence for the last three years…] In one case a few years back, a municipal government wouldn’t even allow residents the opportunity to see the proposed budget until the night of the public hearing on the budget. Needless to say there wasn’t much informed comment from the citizenry.

In a more recent example, a municipality kept putting off releasing the proposed budget. “We’re still making changes,” they said. Well gee, since it was a proposed budget most people would expect changes to be made. The dodge was simply a way for the government to avoid letting people know how their tax dollars were being spent until after the budget was adopted and it was too late for them to raise concerns. The economic crisis this year has everyone reeling. From the state to the county to Carroll’s municipal governments, officials everywhere are trying to figure out how to stretch tax dollars, what things can be cut and what needs to be funded.

Read the entire editorial here: Share budget info online

20090317 Share budget info online ccted
Kevin Dayhoff: www.westgov.net Westminster Maryland Online www.westminstermarylandonline.net http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/
Kevin Dayhoff www.kevindayhoff.net http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/