To our readers — we’re giving you tools to get government records

By ANDERS GYLLENHAAL

andersg@MiamiHerald.com

When Jackson Health System signed an unusual contract last year, Miami Herald reporters asked for copies of any hospital e-mails on the deal in a routine records request.

The response that came back was anything but ordinary. The hospital said it would be glad to provide the records -- for $165,721.60. The ensuing standoff was never resolved, and the public records remained secret.

That was one of the more inventive ways of sidestepping the state’s public information rules. Unfortunately, the history of the state’s openness laws is riddled with stories of agencies working as hard to get around the law as to comply with them.

Today marks the start of Sunshine Week, a national effort by newspapers, TV stations, nonprofits, schools and libraries to emphasize the importance of open government and access to information. It’s not a topic with much sizzle to it, but it’s as fundamental as democracy.

In a society that relies on an informed public, the flow of information is a kind of lifeblood.

For most of the past decade, in the midst of what might be called the Information Age, that flow, with regard to the government, has been receding. Startled by the terrorist attacks on the United States, bothered by privacy worries, the country has backed away from the presumption of openness woven into laws over a generation.

Yet, now, the pendulum is swinging back. There’s a growing consensus that security and openness can coexist. Florida itself may be the best example across in the country.

The state created an Office of Open Government to help residents get more of the information they need. Gov. Charlie Crist has launched a commission to strengthen the sunshine laws. Judging from by the number of complaints and questions on about the access of advocacy groups, the public is more attuned to the topic than ever.

“I’m cautiously optimistic,” said Barbara Petersen, who as president of the First Amendment Foundation in Tallahassee has the best handle on public opinion of anyone in the state.

That doesn’t mean those who actually make the decisions on releasing records, providing data, opening meetings and letting the public have its say are following the spirit of the law.

One state agency instituted a new $700 fee for the simplest records search, a price that clearly exceeds the law’s “reasonable’’ standard. The state Department of Law Enforcement charges $24 for paper copies of background records that local police usually provide for less than a quarter.

Agencies frequently dawdle over information requests, often so long that the issue becomes moot. In the Jackson case, the hospital said the e-mail search required a special effort, even though smaller agencies seem to have no such problem.

The state’s Sunshine Law, which has long been a national model for the presumption of openness, now has nearly 1,100 exemptions that allow the secrecy of everything from labor negotiation strategies to a dog’s death certificate.

“It’s one hurdle after another,” said Manny Garcia, a Miami Herald assistant managing editor who directs many of the stories built on public records. “Imagine if a newspaper with lawyers and a staff finds it so difficult, what’s it like for average people?”

This is one of the reasons The Herald recognizes Sunshine Week with new features meant to help readers find their way through the maze.

One is an online project called Watchdog Data Sleuth -- developed by Manny and two of the newsroom’s computer and online talents, Rob Barry and Stephanie Rosenblatt -- that provides links to valuable public databases.

Also available on MiamiHerald.com today is a special page on public records and access, located at www.miamifly.net/watchdog/foia.html. A version will run in Monday’s “On the Web’’ feature on page 4A.

Over time, The Miami Herald will add databases to the Watchdog page, post investigative stories and keep up the push for the free flow of information.

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