Government transparency workshops announced

Idahoans for Openness in Government, Idaho State Controller Brandon Woolf and Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane invite the public to attend a free workshop on how to access state and local government financial and meeting data through two key portals, Transparent Idaho and Townhall Idaho. 

The Dec. 17 session at the state Capitol is part of a series of four workshops on government transparency this fall and winter, all free to attend, and all streamed live statewide. The Transparent Idaho session, like the others, will take place in the Lincoln Auditorium of the Idaho State Capitol and will be streamed live online in partnership with Idaho Public Television, at idahoptv.org/insession. 

The lead presenter for this session will be Idaho State Controller Brandon Woolf, assisted by Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane and IDOG President Betsy Russell. The workshop will start at noon.

Two subsequent sessions, scheduled in January, will focus on the Idaho Public Records Law; and the Idaho Open Meeting Law. “We believe that we all benefit when the public, the media and government officials are fully aware of the public's rights to access government information and observe the conduct of the public's business,” said Russell, noting that that belief is central to IDOG’s mission.

IDOG is a non-profit coalition for open government whose mission is to promote open government and freedom of information. Like numerous such state coalitions around the country, it is affiliated with the National Freedom of Information Coalition. IDOG is a 501c3 nonprofit, and is funded entirely by grants and donations. Since 2004, IDOG has sponsored more than 50 educational workshops around the state.

These sessions are intended for citizens, members of the news media, local and state public officials and their staffs who are interested in the public’s rights under Idaho law for access to public records and meetings, the rules, and how to access the information. The sessions are endorsed by the Association of Idaho Cities, the Idaho Association of Counties, Attorneys for Civic Education and the Idaho Press Club.

The workshops are free to attend, either in-person or virtually, but participants are asked to please register in advance at openidaho.org or by calling the State Controller’s Office at 208-334-3100, ext. 0; say you’re calling to register for an IDOG workshop. 

Questions from the public will be taken during each session via email, and will be answered by the presenters during the sessions as time permits. Within a few days after the completion of each session, the full recording will be posted online at IDOG’s website, www.openidaho.org, for future public viewing. Full video and slide presentations from the first workshop in the series, which focused on campaign finance and was led by McGrane on Nov. 19, are available on the site now.

Additional workshops are:

► Jan. 16, 9 a.m. PT — Idaho Public Records Act. Program will cover the law and the public’s rights. Presenting will be Andy Snook, general counsel for Idaho Gov. Brad Little, and Betsy Russell, IDOG president.

► Jan. 27, 9 a.m. PT — Idaho Open Meeting Law. Program will cover the law and the public’s rights. Presenting will be Andy Snook, general counsel for Idaho Gov. Brad Little; Betsy Russell, IDOG president; and former longtime Chief Deputy Idaho Attorney Genera, Brian Kane.

An earlier session, held Nov. 19, covered campaign finance and lobbying, including the rules and how to access data. Presenting was Phil McGrane, Idaho Secretary of State.

Information: openidaho.org