From: Greg Costello, Executive Director, and Dave Bahr, staff attorney and Transparency Initiative Coordinator

Re: Free Assistance with Public Records Requests

A democracy requires accountability, and accountability requires transparency. . . . In our democracy, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which encourages accountability through transparency, is the most prominent expression of a profound national commitment to ensuring an open Government. At the heart of that commitment is the idea that accountability is in the interest of the Government and the citizenry alike.

On his first full day in office, President Obama issued to all federal agencies, the Presidential Memorandum quoted above. His stated purpose was to “usher in a new era of open Government.”  In so doing, the President suggested, but did not assure, a reawakening of the public’s right of oversight and access regarding governmental actions and operations that has been somewhat dormant in recent years.

We at WELC are taking the President at his word and intend to use FOIA to ensure “accountability through transparency.” Therefore, building upon our long history of successful use of the federal and state public records laws, we are launching the Transparency Initiative as a service to our current and past clients. It is our experience that our clients are often confronted by recalcitrant or obstructionist agency reaction to their public records requests. However, because there are many competing demands on limited resources, such cases are often reluctantly cast aside as too consuming of time and/or money to pursue.

Accordingly, as a valued client, we are offering you free assistance with your public records
requests. As an initial step we are allocating staff time for the purpose of assisting you with public records requests that may not have generated the information you have sought. If you have any pending public records requests to which you believe a state, local or federal agency has not properly responded — e.g., refused access to information, denied fee waiver requests, delayed issuing a decision, etc. — we are here to help.

Please follow these steps to help us evaluate your case:

1. Complete the online intake form: http://westernlaw.org/transparency-intake. When you click the “send” button after you complete this questionnaire, we will automatically email you a copy. At the top of your copy will be the identification number you created, please use that number when communicating with us about your case.
2. Mail us copies of all correspondence (including emails) between you and the agency pertaining to your request. Please send these materials to: Western Environmental Law Center, 1216 Lincoln Street, Eugene OR, 97401; Attn. Transparency Initiative.

We will then evaluate your case and contact you to discuss your options. There will be no
charge for this process. Should you have any questions, please contact Dave Bahr in our Eugene, Oregon office: (541) 485-2471 or bahr@westernlaw.org.

We can hope that the new administration in Washington will usher in the type of transparency described in the above quoted Presidential Memorandum. However, only the fullness of time will reveal if the Obama administration consummates its initial promise in this regard. We do know, from hard experience, that even good intentions imposed from the top are often thwarted when they encounter entrenched practices of governmental bureaucracies.

Therefore, we view WELC’s Transparency Initiative as a program to provide useful “guidance” to agencies as they review and process our clients’ public records requests. Over time we will be adding other elements such as an online component on our website that will offer tools and information to assist you to use FOIA and the state public records laws to more effectively obtain your organizational goals. Additionally, we will continue to be available to you for direct consultation regarding any questions or concerns you may have regarding access to governmental sources of information.