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Unsolicited advice
Monday, May 18, 2015 - Posted by Rich Miller * Andy Shaw of the BGA writes in the Sun-Times…
I can certainly understand how the BGA would be peeved. But, from what I’m told, those requests are not what necessarily ticked off the governor’s office. * Instead, the BGA FOIA’d Rauner spokesman Lance Trover’s Internet browsing history - not once, but twice (once through the governor’s office and a second time through CMS). Both BGA fishing expeditions were denied. And then they threw out their net again when they FOIA’d Schrimpf’s personnel file. Seems a bit much, particularly if you know how the Internet system at the governor’s office works (any sites remotely political or otherwise prohibited are blocked) and personnel records are supposed to be private. * I recommended Andy Shaw for the BGA job. 90 percent of what his group does is valuable. But maybe 10 percent is just weird. Nobody’s perfect, of course, but, c’mon, man. How about disclosing those three incendiary FOIA’s? Also, Schrimpf probably needs to take yet another nap. That was a bit harsh, dude.
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- Bruce Rushton - Monday, May 18, 15 @ 12:33 pm:
Point of correction/clarification:
Personnel records are not exempt from disclosure. That was one important change to the Freedom of Information Act that took effect in 2010. Personnel files, as well as all records of discipline, are public. The only exemptions are for Social Security numbers, home addresses, phone numbers and other stuff clearly personal in nature as well as performance evaluations, which the general assembly exempted after the 2010 changes, which otherwise opened personnel files, took effect.
- Anonin' - Monday, May 18, 15 @ 12:33 pm:
Very curious anyone would side with HandoutAndy. The BGA is amazingly mute on BVR recent presentations….they say they took no recent donations from the BVR foundation, but since the 1099-Schedule B is not published we will never know.
- Anonymous - Monday, May 18, 15 @ 12:37 pm:
The BGA apparently cares about everyone’s ethics except their own
- Oswego Willy - Monday, May 18, 15 @ 12:37 pm:
Who do you root for in this; Rauner or Shaw?
The only thing I know for certain is, at some point, turning on everyone leaves you no one to turn to as a friend.
“Us, and those not Us”, is not the way to be the Illinois Executive.
- 47th Ward - Monday, May 18, 15 @ 12:38 pm:
Par for the course with Andy Shaw. Focus on the little fish and let the whales go about their business. Can’t he go back and name all of the double and triple pension dippers who bankrupted the public pension systems? Isn’t there some low level flunky who used a government credit card to rent a car that wasn’t economy class?
Because dropping $400K on leaders and members of the General Assembly right before a big vote happens all the time. Maybe Andy could ask Al Ronen how business as usual that is. At least Rauner didn’t pass out the checks on the House floor.
- Anonin' - Monday, May 18, 15 @ 12:41 pm:
Notice HandOutAndy does not ask about the subprime car loan hustler who run another state agency.
And that Springfield lunch was the venue when BVR promised to start donatin’ again.
- Marty Funkhouser - Monday, May 18, 15 @ 12:45 pm:
How do we know this was a fishing expedition and not the result of a tip? The BGA bugs me as a journalistic enterprise in the same way as the IPI because of its lobbying. But these FOIA requests don’t seem out of the ordinary to me.
- Norseman - Monday, May 18, 15 @ 12:47 pm:
As Willy noted, who do you root for in this? I have no sympathy for either party.
As for Schrimpf, I’m still trying to figure out what value he adds to the “superstar” staff. Civility seems to be an unknown characteristic to him.
- Rich Miller - Monday, May 18, 15 @ 12:50 pm:
MF, then why not disclose it?
- Rich Miller - Monday, May 18, 15 @ 12:51 pm:
MF, to expand, I’ve heard about this back and forth for several days. It was angry, it was vitriolic. Andy knew what that Schrimpf email was about.
- Austin Blvd - Monday, May 18, 15 @ 12:52 pm:
“The only thing I know for certain is, at some point, turning on everyone leaves you no one to turn to as a friend.”
But money can buy you love and buy you back.
- Politix - Monday, May 18, 15 @ 12:53 pm:
Nice to see Gov’s Press has let Schrimpf out of his cage. It was getting boring there for awhile only hearing from ck. I honestly don’t know how this guy keeps a PR job.
That said, having worked with BGA reporters, I’d be surprised if they would ask for something without an inkling of what they expect to find. They get tipped off just like any other news org.
- BMAN - Monday, May 18, 15 @ 12:53 pm:
Oh, did somebody strike a nerve? I guess governmental transparency is okay, as long as it applies to the other guy.
- crazybleedingheart - Monday, May 18, 15 @ 12:55 pm:
==Who do you root for in this; Rauner or Shaw?==
Attrition.
- Demoralized - Monday, May 18, 15 @ 12:58 pm:
Mike Schrimpf seems to have a problem maintaining professionalism at times. I’m not sure why you would want a guy like that handling communications. What is wrong with the guy?
- Demoralized - Monday, May 18, 15 @ 12:59 pm:
==Personnel records are not exempt from disclosure. ==
That’s a shame. They should be.
- crazybleedingheart - Monday, May 18, 15 @ 12:59 pm:
but seriously, Andy.
- Anonymous - Monday, May 18, 15 @ 1:01 pm:
I’m not fan of the governor, but I definitely side with him when it comes to the BGA. I disagree with you Rich that 90 % of what they do is valuable. They are the champions of “gotcha” journalism. They can find a conflict of interest in any part of the government so long as they can use it for fundraising.
- Anonymous - Monday, May 18, 15 @ 1:06 pm:
==I’d be surprised if they would ask for something without an inkling of what they expect to find==
You must have a low “surprise” threshold. I’d be surprised more by one of their requests if that were NOT true.
- Anonymous - Monday, May 18, 15 @ 1:35 pm:
The ironic thing about the BGA is, for an organization that purports to be a watchdog for wasted taxpayer time and money, they sure like to send frivolous FOIA’s that…wait for it…waste a lot of public employees’ time that taxpayers pay for.
- Politix - Monday, May 18, 15 @ 1:45 pm:
Take a breath. It’s the BGA, not the National Enquirer. They received 7 Lisagor awards just this May for their reporting last year. You think the Rauner admin doesn’t know this?
- Marty Funkhouser - Monday, May 18, 15 @ 2:15 pm:
Rich,
Gotcha. Agreed. If Shaw knew what the real reason was, he shouldn’t have thrown up a bunch of straw men.
- Wordslinger - Monday, May 18, 15 @ 2:18 pm:
Schrimpf vs. Shaw is a dream come true. Let’s hope those two crazy kids find each other often in the years to come.
My daughter had a CBGB show yesterday at the Cobra Lounge. Schrimpf comes to mind on this one:
“…when I have nothing to say, my lips are sealed…. say something once…. why say it again?…..”
- Bruce Rushton - Monday, May 18, 15 @ 2:26 pm:
The Rauner team, I think, has a ways to go on the transparency front. I don’t know the particulars, but, in general, Marty Funkhouser is right: FOIA requests don’t get beamed down from the Starship Enterprise, they generally are sparked by tips. I had a case recently where I got a tip about suspected skirting of visiting rules in a prison. I asked for a list of who had visited the inmate in question as well as the inmate’s visitor list. Got nothing on the grounds of I can’t remember what. So I requested the visiting log for the entire prison. I got that–really, there was no way they could deny it–but it was more work for them and more work for me. My tip didn’t pan out, and so, on to the next. Again, I don’t know, but I’m wondering whether what seems like a fishing expedition actually became one when the administration resisted a records request. Certainly, my request for the visiting log of a prison could be seen as a fishing expedition if you didn’t know the back story.
In another case, a tip did pan out, but the administration balked at releasing slam-dunk public records regarding personnel, and it still refuses to say how employees who purloined publicly owned equipment on public time using a state were punished. First, they took a five-day extension to respond to my request, then they asked for another five-day extension (I said OK–I try to be reasonable, especially if I’m asking for a lot of documents), then, at the end of the second five-day extension (which they were not entitled to under the law), they refused to release any records at all. They ultimately relented and released some after I sent them an email of protest. Here’s the story, with the email battle to get the documents linked at the end: http://illinoistimes.com/article-15302-take-a-seat.html
Again, I don’t know the particulars of the BGA dust-up, but in my experience, this administration, so far, is as secretive as any I’ve seen. Public records are sometimes treated as proprietary for no good reason, and the law is weak enough that they can often get away with it. Rauner promised transparency in all aspects of government. He should live up to those promises without whining when reporters ask for records. Providing them is part of the job.
- Rich Miller - Monday, May 18, 15 @ 2:30 pm:
=== I don’t know the particulars of the BGA dust-up===
Glad you admit it.
- Wordslinger - Monday, May 18, 15 @ 2:40 pm:
47, If I recall correctly, Ronan was handing out checks for $50 to $300 bucks for some casino.
Granted it was the 90s, but still, relative chump change compared to what the guv was dealing last week.
If you’re the governor of Illinois, I don’t think it’s the best idea to look like a big money machar lobbyist compared to Al Ronan.
- Bruce Rushton - Monday, May 18, 15 @ 3:23 pm:
Again, I don’t know the particulars of the BGA’s FOIA requests, but there could be a very good reason for requesting either browsing histories or personnel files. Or no reason at all. Regardless, such records are routinely requested and released in other states without anyone squawking about it.
End of the day, if it’s a publicly owned computer and a public employee, it is, or should be, fair game. I’d be curious to hear on what grounds the Rauner administration denied a request for the browsing history of a public employee who, presumably, used public equipment. I can’t think of an exemption that would work, but, then again, I’m not a lawyer.
End of day, if you don’t like working in a fish bowl, then get a job in the private sector. People who make FOIA requests shouldn’t have to apologize for anything. That so many people are so uptight about releasing records in this state has always mystified me.
- Urban Girl - Monday, May 18, 15 @ 3:23 pm:
Regarding the Internet history, I think this is a new strategy that the BGA has been trying out with Chicago agencies. It is not about political sites, but sites that are not work related. They are trying to see, for example, how much time senior staff people are spending on Amazon ordering presents in December rather than working. Although I get the BGA e-mails, I am not sure if they have caught anyone misbehaving so far. It is a creative strategy that may be fruitless in the end.
- Dont remember - Monday, May 18, 15 @ 4:00 pm:
“Seems a bit much, particularly if you know how the Internet system at the governor’s office works (any sites remotely political or otherwise prohibited are blocked)”
Since when? Wasn’t always that way…
- Ginhouse Tommy - Monday, May 18, 15 @ 4:18 pm:
Rock on Bruce. I completely agree. Shades of Mike Royko.
- Just Me - Monday, May 18, 15 @ 5:48 pm:
The BGA doesn’t care about better government, it cares about looking like it cares about better government.
- Streator Curmudgeon - Monday, May 18, 15 @ 7:28 pm:
” (any sites remotely political or otherwise prohibited are blocked)”
Does that include Capitol Fax?
- Demoralized - Tuesday, May 19, 15 @ 8:18 am:
Bruce
If you are asking for somebody’s browsing history then you are doing nothing but fishing. I absolutely hate those types of FOIA requests. If you want something, fine. But don’t fish. People have better things to do that go on wild goose chases because some reporter or somebody else gets a weed up his rear end and wants to fish around for something because he is bored. We issue hundreds of thousands of pages of FOIA requests from the small office I work in and we do it with a staff of 1. I can’t imagine the volume of requests at other offices. Don’t send people on wild goose chases.