http://www.daily-chronicle.com/articles/2007/08/13/opinions/opinions01.txt
Public access to DeKalb records must be improved
Editor:
Last month in a letter to the editor I criticized the DeKalb city clerk's performance in regard to city council meeting minutes (July 14, “Clerk's summaries are biased, incomplete”). My gripe at that time focused mostly on content, but the other side of that coin is public access to records of city business.
It is easy to find people who are frustrated in trying to inform themselves using meeting minutes, mostly because they can't be accessed with technology that is widely available elsewhere. For example, not all of the minutes are online, and the online minutes can't be searched via keyword. A group of the frustrated recently requested a look at this lag in the city's online presence, and I am delighted to note that it has become an item on the agenda for the DeKalb City Council's Committee of the Whole meeting at 6 p.m. Aug. 13 in council chambers.
As it happens, the city has been working on low-cost and no-cost projects related to issues brought up by the group. Therefore, a portion of Monday's meeting will be devoted to staff's updating of the city council on the latest developments and receiving further direction from the council. If you have opinions about these matters, now is a good time to phone your alderman and make them known.
LYNN A. FAZEKAS
DeKalb
Public access to DeKalb records must be improved
Editor:
Last month in a letter to the editor I criticized the DeKalb city clerk's performance in regard to city council meeting minutes (July 14, “Clerk's summaries are biased, incomplete”). My gripe at that time focused mostly on content, but the other side of that coin is public access to records of city business.
It is easy to find people who are frustrated in trying to inform themselves using meeting minutes, mostly because they can't be accessed with technology that is widely available elsewhere. For example, not all of the minutes are online, and the online minutes can't be searched via keyword. A group of the frustrated recently requested a look at this lag in the city's online presence, and I am delighted to note that it has become an item on the agenda for the DeKalb City Council's Committee of the Whole meeting at 6 p.m. Aug. 13 in council chambers.
As it happens, the city has been working on low-cost and no-cost projects related to issues brought up by the group. Therefore, a portion of Monday's meeting will be devoted to staff's updating of the city council on the latest developments and receiving further direction from the council. If you have opinions about these matters, now is a good time to phone your alderman and make them known.
LYNN A. FAZEKAS
DeKalb
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