Local governments are secretly making deals with corporations that can threaten public health and safety, and even democracy.
To learn more, join us at our July 11 event on this topic: “What You Don’t Know About Local Government Can Hurt You.”
San Francisco Public Press (https://www.sfpublicpress.org/category/open-government/)
Local governments are secretly making deals with corporations that can threaten public health and safety, and even democracy.
To learn more, join us at our July 11 event on this topic: “What You Don’t Know About Local Government Can Hurt You.”
State Sen. Nancy Skinner wrote SB 1421 to open up law enforcement disciplinary records. In 2020, she moved to expand that legislation to grant access to records about officers who engaged in biased or discriminatory behavior or used excessive or unreasonable force.
After she pointed to millions of dollars in uncollected fees for public services and alleged serious mismanagement problems, the executive director of California’s utility regulator, the California Public Utilities Commission, was fired. Commissioners said Alice Stebbins had misled the public about missing funds and accused her of favoritism in hiring. But an investigation by the Bay City News Foundation and ProPublica looked into the dismissal, and found the director had been right about the missing money.
Members of the San Francisco Ethics Commission let out a sigh of relief last week when they learned from Mayor London Breed’s budget proposal that their funding would be sliced by 3.3%, far less than the 10% they had been expecting. But they warned that even the smaller-than-expected cuts would still have an impact on the political watchdog group’s effectiveness.
The city last week warned that public records will likely be delayed amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This is already having an impact on journalists’ ability to access and disseminate public health information.
We filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the complete report by Robert S. Mueller III hours after Attorney General William Barr released a four-page summary of the special counsel’s investigation into President Trump and his 2016 campaign. Here’s the official reply — and the 448-page redacted report, which was released April 18.
Voter-approved Proposition B mandates that San Francisco create what supporters say would be the toughest data-protection policy of any U.S. city, and would go beyond California’s landmark Consumer Privacy Act. Now comes the hard part: writing the rules that will overcome legal, technical and enforcement challenges.
Officials offer explanations for 18-month delay in releasing city-funded study that foresees serious climate-related flooding in Mission Bay in the decades ahead. The release followed a public-records request by the Public Press.
With two months until Election Day, more than $2 million has been amassed in the collective war chests for local candidate campaigns, 90 percent of which has been raised for six Board of Supervisors seats.
The Public Press spent six months digging and sorting, and many hours talking with staff at the Ethics Commission for clarification on the best ways to find and distill the information on the 2015 elections.
San Franciscans will not vote for nearly three months, but big money is flowing into the fall election already. Local campaigns have spent $3.15 million, with more than half going to just six of 25 measures on the ballot.