Many public servants often forget, or ignore, that the public has the right to know just about everything they do. We pay them, and it is up to us to hold them accountable. But, often, the sun simply doesn’t shine on local or state government—and it’s as bad as we’ve ever seen it in Mississippi. Sometimes it’s ineptness, sometimes it’s trickery, sometimes it’s nefarious, sometimes it’s ignorance of sunshine laws, including the Mississippi Open Records Law, established to give the public, and thus the media, the right to a prompt response to information requests.
We-the-people also have the right to be present for the vast majority of public meetings, including work sessions of government groups although many want to work behind closed doors until they can present a “done deal” to the public. Not good.
As an investigative media outlet, we deal with many roadblocks to information. The most common is simply ignoring our requests unless we keep badgering them (which is illegal, of course). We’re also quoted expensive hourly rates for the time it supposedly takes a staffer to reach into a file and make a copy, or print out a list of available information. Or, they try to charge exorbitant per-page rates (unless it’s something they want us to have).
By definition, “public” information is supposed to be available on demand to the public if at all possible. We understand it takes a few hours or maybe a day or two to answer us about a current document, if it is a good-faith delay, but public servants often take weeks just to say “no.” We understand if they are historic records stored in a warehouse somewhere, but current records? Just make them available. The public should know what you’re doing as you do it, so we can have input.
The JFP has long focused on the serious problem of campaign donation transparency in the state, especially that shielded by political action committees, and the problem with city contractor transparency. PACs often under-report (if at all), use illegible handwriting or wait to report until it’s too late. We’ve even learned that third-party groups are set up to handle money to keep people from knowing exactly who is giving to what candidate.
Some donors give money and expect lucrative jobs or contracts in return. The public has the right to know about them, even if legal. We’ve long worked to expose dark, hidden money and post the actual campaign reports themselves. (Find recent years’ reports at jfp.ms/documents).
Once again, the JFP is turning up the volume on public records, filing more requests to both get information for the public and to test the system. The City of Jackson, for instance, has publicized an apparent “open data” push of late that we will monitor and test for effectiveness and urgency.
This issue, just in time for Sunshine Week, state reporter Arielle Dreher and the JFP news team are rolling out the first of many results of a state transparency project that will shine a great deal of needed sunshine on who is giving which lawmakers money, including whining and dining them, and paying for vacations. Keep an eye out. All reports will be at jfp.ms/lobbyists as we go forward.
Be sure to visit our Sunshine archive for some of our best public-records work over the years. The longer version of this editorial is at jfp.ms/sunshine.
The Mississippi Free Press produced this story through the MFP Solutions Lab, supported by the Solutions Journalism Network. This series digs into Mississippi’s systemic issues and sheds light on responses to them in other communities. Beyond just reporting on problems, these stories interrogate their causes and inspect potential solutions.