by Carol Thompson

Robert Freeman, the executive director of the New York State Committee on Open Government, addressed a group of communication studies students on the SUNY Oswego campus Tuesday.

His message: Every citizen has the right to know how government spends money.

Freemann said his office is available to answer any questions from the public and the press as to what records are made public and what may be kept private. “We’re not there to support the government,” he said. “We’re there to do the right thing.”

The Open Government and Freedom of Information laws deal with the relationship between government and the public, Freemann explained. “Embarrassment is not a ground for withholding records, and it is not a ground to close a meeting,” he said.

Embarrassment is one of the primary reasons record access is denied, although it is generally disguised under “invasion of personal privacy,” one of the reasons a government agency can legally deny a request.

Freemann told the class that his office receives approximately 7,000 calls each year and has written over 20,000 opinions since the office has been in operation.

FOIL, the acronym for the Freedom of Information Law, has become a common term in the state, he said. “You’ll hear, ‘He FOILed for this or he’s FOILing for that’,” he noted.

Adjunct Professor of Communications Studies Bruce Frassinelli, who hosted Freemann, reminded students that the records are not just for the press to access, but for everyone.

Freemann told the students of a FOIL request made by an Albany college newspaper for the records of SUNY Albany’s auxiliary services and learned that the ‘not-for-profit’ service was making a large profit from items sold in vending machines.

Freemann also discussed the difficulty in obtaining public records from police agencies. “They don’t like this law; they don’t like to disclose,” he said. “Why? I’m not exactly sure.”

Freemann said law-enforcement agencies historically don’t like to disclose public records, and that journalists, by nature, need to establish a close relationship with someone in a police agency to obtain information.

Delays in government agencies can also be detrimental to the public’s right to know when information is stalled or not readily available to the press. “Access delayed is access denied,” Freemann said.

In regard to the Open Meetings Law, Frassanelli spoke of a recent allegation made by the Oswego City School District board president. That allegation pertained to a quorum of board members voting on pertinent issues by telephone poll—something that is illegal in New York State.

Freemann explained that the courts have ruled that any time a quorum of members of a governing body gather, it is considered a meeting.

Freemann said when dealing with violations of the law, reporters don’t get nasty enough and the courts are “too political” for appropriate action to be taken. “I would rather rely on the court of public opinion,” he said. “People get upset...if business is being done in secret, vote the rascals out. The court of public opinion, I think, is much more successful in bringing about change.”

Freemann emphasized that along with secrecy, another matter the public does not tolerate is government waste. He spoke of the most recent reason given for the denial of health and pension records that agencies commonly use: HIPPA.

But the HIPPA law specifically states that when the records deal with the relationship between the employer and the employee, HIPPA doesn’t apply, Freemann noted.

In the matter of government records, the taxpayers are the employer, hence, the records are public. HIPPA only covers medical information and does not apply to naming the employees who receive taxpayer-funded benefits.

“If you get health insurance, does that disclose any medical conditions?” Freemann asked. “It doesn’t apply.”

One student in the class noted that his mother worked for a SUNY college. Freemann asked if he thought the public had the right to know his mother’s salary. “I don’t think it’s anybody’s business how much my mother makes,” the student said.

Freemann told the student that his mother’s salary is public information and explained that public employees, who are paid by the public, enjoy a lesser degree of privacy.

The student quipped, “Well then I guess that’s her problem.”

Freemann reviewed what cannot be disclosed, including ongoing police investigations and matters that would jeopardize public safety and security.

The discussion ended with Freemann explaining to the class that student associations also fall under the laws because they deal with public monies. The students were surprised to learn that their campus groups were subject to the law and had to conduct meetings as any government board would.

Freemann addresses the communications students on the SUNY Oswego campus each year.