ROBERT STEINBUCH: The struggle continues |
Last week, the Arkansas Court of Appeals soundly affirmed the well-reasoned decision of then-Pulaski County Circuit Court Judge Mackie Pierce requiring the Pulaski County Special School District to turn over personnel files of employees who were suspended with or without pay. That this case even had to be brought--let alone wind up in appellate court--is a sad testament to the lengths to which too many public officials will go to avoid transparency. It's shameful.
The case began when Russ Racop requested records referenced in an internal district email regarding multiple employees who had been suspended. The district refused, claiming that the records could not be released pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act until the disciplinary matters reached "final administrative resolution."
But the employees had already exhausted all internal appeals. How could the public-school system refuse disclosure at that point in time, you ask? Good question!
Well, the district contended that no disciplinary action could ever be considered "final" unless it reaches the school board, the highest possible level of internal review, even if--wait for it--the employee waived that opportunity explicitly or through the expiration of the appeal time.
Without board involvement, the district incredibly asserted, the administrative process remains permanently incomplete and the records stay exempt--forever! Wouldn't that be convenient--if it just wasn't so patently absurd?
After Racop won at the trial level, the district appealed--using our tax dollars to hire high-dollar private counsel. The government lost again.
Keep in mind these unnecessary and wasteful expenses next time some bureaucracy-defending, anti-transparency hack complains about attorney's fees that a winning citizen requests in defending openness. That's the people's money that goes to pay attorney's fee awards, say the defenders of opacity--never........