WEEKLY UPDATE

Updated as of Friday, Dec. 10, 1998

WHAT'S DOING LATELY

Listed at the end of this update are minutes from the annual meeting of the Iowa FOI Council, Oct. 17.

• EMC milestone: Last of original regional coordinators steps down
  
  Alan Mores of the Harlan Newspapers has stepped down as the regional coordinator for Expanded Media Coverage of Iowa courts in southwest Iowa. Mores had served as Region 7 coordinator since the onset of the Iowa Supreme Court's program on cameras in the courts in 1980. He was the last of the original media coordinators in 13 regions and at the appellate court levels. He will be replaced by RoseAnn Shannon, news director of KTEV in Omaha.
  
• Dave Eliason dies of heart attack
  
  Dave Eliason, 56, news director of KFXB-TV in Dubuque, died of a heart attack while at work on Monday, Dec. 7. Eliason also had served as EMC coordinator in Region 1, northeast Iowa. The surviving relative that we know of is a sister, Arlene Eliason in Minot, ND.
  
  Handling EMC duties in the region right now will be Amy K. Gilligan, city editor of the Dubuque Telegraph Herald. It is likely she will become the regular coordinator, upon approval by the Supreme Court.
  
• Next Executive Committee meeting will be Jan. 6
  
  The executive committee of the Iowa FOI Council will meet Wednesday, Jan. 6, at noon in a conference room of the Faegre & Benson law firm at 400 Capital Square, 400 Locust Street in Des Moines. The meeting is open, of course, and Council trustees and members are invited to attend, but should contact executive secretary Herb Strentz (515) 271-3083, so we can order lunch.
  
• Meeting with AG, Ombudsman set
  
  How can Iowa officials, chiefly the Attorney General's office, do a better job of responding to citizen complaints when county and local government agencies and officials apparently violate the state's open meetings and open records laws? That question will be discussed when representatives of the Iowa FOI Council meet with Attorney General Tom Miller and Ombudsman Bill Angrick on Jan. 22. More than a dozen other states, by law or by custom, have government officials and agencies that monitor compliance with access laws and respond to citizen concerns. Judging from phone calls and letters received by the Iowa FOI Council, when Iowa citizens complain about to county attorneys and state officials about violations of access laws they get little help. At the local levels, attorneys for government agencies define the agencies as their clients, not citizens.
  
  
• Randy Evans 1999 President; Jim Field new VP
  Randy Evans of the Des Moines Register succeeds Robert Day of KCCI-TV, Des Moines, as president of the Iowa FOI Council for 1999. Day will continue serving one more year on the executive committee as past-president. Jim Field of radio station KJAN in Atlantic is the new second vice president of the Council, replacing Day as the representative of the Iowa Broadcasters Association in the rotation of Council officers. Mark Bowden of the Cedar Rapids Gazette, representing the Iowa Newspaper Association, advances from second vice president to first vice president for 1999.
  
• OPENNESS DEFENSE FUND CREATED
  
  Iowa FOI Council trustees voted at the annual meeting Oct. 17 to establish an openness defense fund to assist smaller newspapers and broadcast operations to violate lawsuits on violations of the state open meetings and open records laws. The trustees approved transfer of $10,000 from council reserves to help start the fund. The Iowa Newspaper Association has committed a similar amount and other fund-raising efforts are under way. Information on how to apply for support from the fund is available from executive secretary Herb Strentz.
• Please review the minutes below for other developments at the annual meeting.
•  
• Here are the minutes from the annual meeting on Oct. 17, 1998
  
  Minutes of the 1998 Business Meeting of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council October 17, 1998, Olmsted Center, Drake University

Presiding: President Robert Day

Sustaining member organizations represented at the annual meeting: Cedar Rapids Gazette, Mark Bowden; Des Moines Register and Tribune Company, Richard Doak and Randy Evans; Iowa Broadcasters Association, Robert Day; Iowa Newspaper Association, Bill Monroe; KCCI-TV, Geoff Greenwood; Quad-City Times, Clark Kauffman; Sioux City Press Club, Kate Thompson; TCI, Deb Blume; Woodward Communications, Inc., Brian Cooper; University trustees: Iowa-Jeff Smith, Iowa State-Tom Beell, Drake-Herb Strentz; Working Media Trustee, Kristi Chew.

· Financial report and proposed budget for 1999: Strentz reviewed the financial reports distributed at the meeting, including the proposed 1999 budget, which will be reviewed for adoption by the executive committee in February or March, when final accounting for 1998 is completed.

· Litigation, current and pending:

Mark Bowden noted that the Cedar Rapids case, in which the Council is an Intervenor, Appellant is now before Iowa Supreme Court.

That element of the Partnership Press v. ISU Publications Board case, in which the Council has filed an amicus brief is now before the Iowa Supreme Court.

Clark Kauffman reported on developments in a new case in which The Quad-City Times is seeking access to police department records regarding police involvement in crime/incident reports.

Notice was taken of Rathman v. Board of Directors of the Davenport Community School District, in which the Iowa Supreme Court said reimbursement of attorneys fees was not available at the appellate level under Chapter 21, the open meetings law. Reimbursement of appellate fees is specifically provided for in the open records law, Chapter 22.

· Projects and activities completed and upcoming: Strentz

We will publish an eighth edition of Open Meetings, Open Records Handbook before the end of the year.

We will continue our joint project with Iowa Library Association on First Amendment/Information Access Resource Centers.

We conducted five regional workshops in spring 1998 on news coverage of the judiciary, EMC concerns. Total attendance was about 150.

We're continuing to work on our website. We have provided links to the web pages of sustaining and first amendment members; we try to provide a weekly update on FOI developments.

· Legislative goals for 1998-99:

3 At the federal level, we oppose efforts to amend the U.S. Constitution to provide for laws punishing flag desecration.

3 We should seek an amendment to the open meetings law to provide for reimbursement of appellate fees in cases involving violation of Chapter 21, the open meetings law.

3 We should continue with our efforts to amend the personnel exemption in Chapter 22, to specify what information about public employees should be routinely available, and also to amend Chapter 22 to allow access to the records of corporations licensed to operate riverboat gaming enterprises in the state.

· Additional projects/concerns:

3 Bill Monroe distributed a handout, attached to these minutes, regarding the establishment of an "Openness Defense Fund." Strentz asked for approval of a two-fold motion that (1) The Iowa FOI Council establish an Openness Defense Fund and (2) that the Council commit up to $10,000 from its reserve to support such a fund. Upon motion by Thompson and second by Doak, the motion was approved without dissent.

3 Strentz reported on meetings he and Michael Giudicessi of Faegre & Benson had with ombudsman William Angrick and with Attorney General Tom Miller. Generally, the ombudsman's office has been most responsive to citizen concerns regarding openness, while the AG's office says it does not have the resources to do so.

3 Strentz reported on the development of the IOWAccess project. (website is www.iowaccess.org) He serves as the media representative on the IOWAccess advisory committee. He said he would prepare a report for review by the INA and IBA. One issue being considered is financing of the project to put public records on line and whether such funds might come from legislative appropriation or other sources, such as user fees and minimal advertising.

3 Geoff Greenwood, Region 8 Media Coordinator, reported on a proposed meeting of judges and journalists in the fifth judicial district, tentatively scheduled for Jan. 23. A copy of his report is attached to the minutes. There was general agreement that the meeting should not be off the record because, for one thing, that would be contrary to Council principles and because the meeting should not be considered a news event or news-gathering session, but rather one in which the focus was on EMC procedures and related concerns.

· Amendments to bylaws:

3 Adoption of goals for 1999

The Council bylaws require the trustees to annually adopt goals for the upcoming year. Upon motion by Evans and second by Thompson Article III, Section 3.2 of the bylaws was amended to list these goals for 1999:

· To continue as the Iowa Supreme Court-designated coordinator for expanded media coverage of the Iowa Courts, under Canons 3A and 3B.

· To continue efforts for the adoption of an amendment to the Iowa law on access to information in personnel records, 22.7(11) of the Code of Iowa; and to continue support for having the open records law apply to nonprofit corporations holding riverboat gaming licenses (added at the meeting) and to amend the Open Meetings Law to provide for reimbursement of attorneys fees in cases successful at the appellate level.

· To seek repeal of secrecy provisions for drivers' licenses and motor vehicle license plates, in light of the challenges to the federal law calling for the secrecy.

· To continue our joint project with the Iowa Library Association.

· To make the "Openness Defense Fund" operational.

· Certification/appointment of officers for 1999:

Randy Evans of The Des Moines Register advances from first vice president to president.

Mark Bowden of The Cedar Rapids Gazette advances from second vice president to first vice president as the representative of the Iowa Newspaper Association.

Jim Field of KJAN, Atlantic, is nominated by the Iowa Broadcasters Association to succeed Robert Day in the rotation of officers.

Election:

Kristi Chew of the Associated Press and Kate Thompson, as a representative of the Sioux City Press Club, are willing to serve another year as trustee representatives of the "Working Media."

President Day asked for and received unanimous consent for the approval of the officers for 1999.

The meeting adjourned following an expression of thanks to Bob Day for his service as president during 1998.

Minutes prepared by Herb Strentz, executive secretary

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