Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Diamante stenographic machine. Boston City Council.

Support open government. Diamante stenographic machine at Boston City Council stores a computer file with the full transcript of the most recent public meeting of the Council. Ask your favorite City Council Candidate for the full transcript
http://www.stenograph.com/ProductDetails.aspx?prodid=45001

Monday, June 13, 2011

Open Meeting Law Advisory Commission

Open Meeting Law Advisory Commission
October 25, 2010 Public meeting
One Ashburton, Place, Boston, 21st Floor
Members present: Robert Ambrogi, Loretta Lillios, Peter Hechenbleikner
Members absent: Sen. Brian Joyce, Rep. Steve Walsh
Others present: Britte McBride, Director, Division of Open Government, Attorney
General’s Office; Jonathan Sclarsic, Assistant Attorney General, Attorney General’s
Office, Josh Harrell from Rep. Steve Walsh’s office Joshua.harrell@mahouse.gov
Chair Loretta Lillios
http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=cagosubtopic&L=4&L0=Home&L1=Government&L2=The+Open+Meeting+Law&L3=Open+Meeting+Law+Advisory+Commission&sid=Cago

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Office of the Attorney General
One Ashburton Place
Boston, Massachusetts 02108

[ seal ]
Massachusetts Attorney General
Martha Coakley
http://mass.gov/ago/openmeetings
Phone: 617 727-2200
TTY 617 727-4765
openmeeting@state.ma.us

OPEN MEETING LAW COMPLAINT FORM
Instructions for completing the Open Meeting Law Complaint Form

The Office of the Attorney General's Division of Open Government is responsible for interpreting and enforcing the Open Meeting Law.

Pursuant to G.L. c. 30A, §23,
http://www.malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleIII/Chapter30A
the Open Meeting Law requires that, prior to filing a complaint with the Attorney General, complaints must first be filed with the public body that is alleged to have committed the violation.

The complaint must be filed with the public body within 30 days of the alleged violation, or if the alleged Open Meeting Law violation could not reasonably have been known at the time it occurred, then within 30 days of the date it should reasonably have been discovered.

The complaint must set forth the circumstances which constitute the alleged violation, giving the public body an opportunity to remedy the alleged violation.



Please complete the entire form, providing as much information as possible, to assist the public body in responding to your complaint.

You may attach additional materials to your complaint if necessary.

The public body may request additional information if necessary.

The Division of Open Government will not, and public bodies are not required to, investigate anonymous complaints.



Complaints alleging a violation of the Open Meeting Law by a local public body must be filed with the clerk of the city or town where the alleged violation occurred.

Complaints alleging a violation by a county, regional or state public body must be filed with the chair of the public body.



If you are not satisfied with the action taken by the public body in response to your complaint, you may file a copy of your complaint with the Attorney General 30 days after filing your complaint with the public body.

The complaint must include this form and any documents relevant to the alleged violation.

A complaint may be filed either by mail or by hand with the:

Office of the Attorney General
Division of Open Government
One Ashburton Place
Boston, MA 02108

The Attorney General may decline to investigate a complaint that is filed with the Attorney General more than 90 days after the alleged OML violation, unless an extension was granted to the public body or the complainant demonstrates good cause for the delay.




[ seal ]
Massachusetts Attorney General
Martha Coakley

OPEN MEETING LAW COMPLAINT FORM

Office of the Attorney General
One Ashburton Place
Boston, MA 02108
http://mass.gov/ago/openmeetings
Phone: 617 727-2200
TTY 617 727-4765
openmeeting@state.ma.us

Your Contact Information:
First Name: Last Name:
Address:
City: State: Zip Code:
Phone Number: Ext.
Email:
Organization or Media Affiliation (if any):

Are you filing the complaint in your capacity as an individual, representative of an organization, or media?
(For statistical purposes only)
[__]Individual [__]Organization [__]Media

Public Body that is the subject of this complaint:
[__]City/Town [__]County [__]Regional/District [__]State

Please note that all fields are required unless otherwise noted.

Name of Public Body (including city/town, county or region, if applicable):

Specific person(s), if any, you allege committed the violation:

Date of alleged violation:

Page 1





Description of alleged violation:
Describe the alleged violation that this complaint is about. If you believe the alleged violation was intentional, please say so and include
the reasons supporting your belief.
Note: This text field has a maximum of 3000 characters.

What action do you want the public body to take in response to your complaint?
Note: This text field has a maximum of 500 characters.

Review, sign, and submit your complaint
Read this important notice and sign your complaint.

Under most circumstances your complaint will be considered a public record and be available to any member of the public upon request.

I understand that when I submit this complaint the Attorney General's Office cannot give me legal advice and cannot act as my personal lawyer.

I certify that the information contained on this form is true to the best of my knowledge.

Signed: ___________________________________________ Date:____________________________

By filling in my name and checking this box, I certify that the information I have provided is true and correct to the best of my knowledge, and that I adopt this as my online signature.
Declaration:[__]

For Use By Public Body
Date Received by Public Body:

For Use By AGO
Date Received by AGO:

Page 2


.

Saturday, June 11, 2011

The electronic stenographic record created during the most recent meeting of the Boston City Council

June 19, 2011
SPR11/156

I have received your petition appealing the response of the City of Boston (City) to your April 23, 2011 public records request. See G. L. c. 66, s 10(b) (2008 ed.) (Supervisor of Records has authority to resolve public records appeals);
http://www.malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleX/Chapter66
see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2) (appeal process).
http://www.lawlib.state.ma.us/source/mass/cmr/950cmr.html

Specifically, you requested an electronic stenographic record created during the most recent meeting of the City Council.

In the past, you have requested copies of the stenographic output created during the City Council meetings and you have been provided with a fee estimate for the provision of the photocopies of the paper records created by the stenographic machine. Based on recent information regarding the capabilities of the particular stenographic machine used during City Council meetings, you had reason to believe that an electronic version of the stenographic output could possibly be created. Consequently, you requested this electronic version of the stenographic output

On June 6, 2011, Ms. Priscilla Tollen, of the City, informed Rebecca Murray, an attorney with the Public Records Division, that the City does not have an electronic copy of the stenographic documents. There is no obligation for a custodian to create a record in response to a public records request. G. L. C. 66, s 10(a) (2008 ed.); 32 Op. Att'y Gen. 157, 165 (May 18, 1977).
http://www.malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleX/Chapter66
http://www.archive.org/details/reportofattorney1977mass

Given that the City does not have the records responsive to your request and there is no obligation to create these records, accordingly, I will consider this matter closed.
Very truly yours,
Shawn A. Williams, Assistant Director
pre@sec.state.ma.us
http://www.sec.state.ma.us/arc/arcrmu/rmuidx.htm

cc:
Ms. Priscilla Tollen
Ms. Rosaria Salerno

ENSE PETIT PLACIDAM SVB LIBERTATE QVIETEM
She seeks with the sword a quiet peace under liberty
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Massachusetts_coat_of_arms.png

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth
Public Records Division
One Ashburton Place, 17th Floor
Boston Massachusetts 02108
617 727-2832

.

Denial. Boston City Clerk. Assistant City Clerk.

Does the Boston City Clerk and Assistant City Clerk understand the technology of the computerized stenographic machine that records the full public meeting of Boston City Council?... instead of providing to the public the computer file stored on the computerized stenographic machine denial takes over with claims the full stenographic machine record doesn't exist yet it's edited down to create Minutes.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Report on the availability of a full transcript of the public meeting of Boston City Council

Report on the availability of a full transcript of the public meeting of Boston City Council.

a)
Failure of the City Clerk and Assistant City Clerk to understand the technology in place currently.

b)
Trivially easy to download/email the computer file stored on the computerized stenographic machine
http://www.stenograph.com/ProductDetails.aspx?prodid=45001
http://www.stenograph.com/marcom/downloads/diamante/Diamante_User_Guide.pdf

c)
The technology of the computerized stenographic machine should be understood so that the public has access to the public record stored on the machine for the public meeting of Boston City Council.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Ask for the full transcript of the last public meeting of Boston City Council...

Ask for the full transcript of the last public meeting of Boston City Council. Transcripts... Boston City Council's Diamante Writer in Blue Ice http://www.stenograph.com/ProductDetails.aspx?prodid=45001

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

An up to date City Stenographer with up to date technology.

Ask Boston City Council that they use Case CATalyst http://www.stenograph.com/category.aspx?id=40001 and LiveNote http://west.thomson.com/products/services/livenote along with Closed Captioning for folks with hearing loss.

Support open government. Improve City Council Communications from the stenographic machine at Boston City Council. Make available the deliberations of the public meeting of the City Council with Case CATalyst and LiveNote. Make available the words of Councilors in the public meeting for public feedback, comment, questions, suggestions. The capability for this is already available if the will is truly to be more transparent.

City Stenographer services, budgeted for with public funds, more complete than only minutes, easier to read through than watching video, using all the features of the technology would make available more readily the transcript of Councilors' deliberations in the public meeting of the City Council, all the words of the Councilors in the public meeting for public feedback, comment, questions and suggestions. See also Diamante Writer in Blue Ice http://www.stenograph.com/ProductDetails.aspx?id=100001&subid=6140001&prodid=45001

Friday, May 13, 2011

Will any potential candidates advocate release of the stenographic machine record?

Will any potential candidates for Boston City Council advocate release of the stenographic machine record of the public meeting of the City Council?

Boston City Council Potential Candidates. Update for Tuesday 17 May 2011

Boston City Council Potential candidates. Update for Tuesday 17 May 2011.
[Details... email john.donovan at cityofboston.gov]
http://www.cityofboston.gov/boardsandcommissions/elections.asp
http://www.cityofboston.gov/elections/

POTENTIAL CANDIDATES
PRELIMINARY MUNICIPAL ELECTION

SEPTEMBER 27, 2011
POTENTIAL CANDIDATES for COUNCILLOR-at-LARGE
Deshon Porter 39 Boylston Street Boston, Ma 02116
William B Feegbeh 251 Cambridge Street Allston, Ma 02134 857-237-6649
John R Connolly 12 Shaw Street West Roxbury, Ma 02132 617-635-3115 617-447-1302
Felix G Arroyo 93 Wachusett Street Jamaica Plain, Ma 02130 617-635-4205
Robert R. Frasca 440 Hanover Street Boston, Ma 02113 617-227-1533
Kenneth P Jervis 14 Burrill Place South Boston, Ma 02127 617-480-1123
Ayanna S. Pressley 1910 Dorchester Avenue, Dorchester Ma 02124 617-635-4217
Will Dorcena 63 Gordon Avenue Hyde Park, Ma 02136 617-899-4076
Stephen J Murphy 141 Warren Avenue Hyde Park, Ma 02136 617-635-4376
Kevin R McCrea 218 West Springfield Street Boston, Ma 02118 617-267-2453
Abdillahi Mash Abdirahman 14 Guild Street Roxbury, Ma 02119 617-438-9087
Sean H Ryan 264 Lamartine Street Jamaica Plain, Ma 02130 617-504-3133
Thomas J Dooley III 112 Pinckney Street Boston, Ma 02114 617-529-8860
Michael F Flaherty 1726 Columbia Road South Boston, Ma 02127 617-269-4673

PRELIMINARY MUNICIPAL ELECTION
SEPTEMBER 27, 2011
POTENTIAL CANDIDATES for DISTRICT CITY COUNCILLOR

DISTRICT ONE
Robert R. Frasca 440 Hanover Street Boston, Ma 02113 617-227-1533
Salvatore LaMattina 76 Montmorenci Avenue East Boston, Ma 02128 617-635-3200

DISTRICT TWO
Suzanne Lee 1 Nassau Street Boston, Ma 02111 617-566-9992 617-935-1211
Bill Linehan 128 G Street South Boston, Ma 02127 617-635-3203 617-224-6911
Bob Ferrara 1776 Columbia Road South Boston, Ma 02127

DISTRICT THREE
Doug Bennett 714 Adams Street Dorchester, Ma 02122 617-963-4213 `
Martin J Hogan 491 Ashmont Street Dorchester, Ma 02122 617-297-5771 `617-203-1791
Marydith E Tuitt 127 Fairmount Street Dorchester, Ma 02124 617-719-6813
John K O’Toole 114 Minot Street Dorchester, Ma 02122 617-201-7866 `617-287-9398
Robert P McDonagh 35 Auriga Street Dorchester, Ma 02122 617-839-9817
Henry C Paquin 26 Taft Street Dorchester, Ma 02125 617-792-3823
Doug Hurley 15 Penhallow Street Dorchester, Ma 02124 617-922-1990
Sean Weir 32 Myrtlebank Avenue Dorchester, Ma 02124 617-710-1110
Michael P Christopher 43 Grampian Way Dorchester, Ma 02125 617-825-5238
Craig M Galvin 23 Cheverus Road Dorchester, Ma 02124 617-436-2000
Leonard M Lee 11 Mather Street Dorchester, Ma 02124 617-204-2832
Stephanie L Everett 197 Manchester Street Mattapan, Ma 02126 617-834-8688
Frank Baker 43 Grampian Way Dorchester, Ma 02125 617-288-9061 617-947-9515
Deirdre McDermott Habershaw 9 Sydney Street Dorchester, Ma 02125 617-872-5572

DISTRICT FOUR
Joseph A Jones Jr. 76 Bernard Street Dorchester, Ma 02124 617-785-9166
Charles Calvin Yancey 3 Hooper Street Dorchester, Ma 02124 617-635-3131
J R Rucker 103 Tonawanda Street Dorchester, Ma 02124 617-436-0815

PRELIMINARY MUNICIPAL ELECTION
SEPTEMBER 27, 2011
POTENTIAL CANDIDATES for DISTRICT CITY COUNCILLOR

DISTRICT FIVE
Rob Consalvo 18A Chittick Road Hyde Park, Ma 02136 617-361-5733 617-828-0129

DISTRICT SIX
Matt O’Malley 226 Jamaicaway Jamaica Plain, Ma 02130 617-935-9752 617-635-4220

DISTRICT SEVEN
Althea Garrison 98 Howard Avenue Dorchester, Ma 02125 617-407-7661
Tito Jackson 37 Schuyler Street Dorchester, Ma 02121 617-442-2837 617-635-3510
David James Wyatt 62 Weaver Court Roxbury, Ma 02119 617-442-4191 617-492-3076
Roy Owens 6 Woodville Street Roxbury, Ma 02119 617-541-4335
Sheneal Parker 30 Symphony Road Boston, Ma 02115 781-473-0640
Haywood Fennell Sr. 1850 Washington Street Boston, Ma 02118
Kevin A Dwire 25 Hawthorne Street Roxbury, Ma 02119 617-680-0085
Lee Buckley 840 A Shawmut Avenue Roxbury, Ma 02119 617-320-9396
Paul A Dobson 70 Saint James Street Roxbury, Ma 02119 857-991-0942

DISTRICT EIGHT
Michael P Ross 214 Parker Hill Avenue Roxbury, Ma 02120 617-635-4225 617-708-0202

DISTRICT NINE
Mark S Ciommo 10 Oliva Road Brighton, Ma 02135 617-789-4693 617-635-3113
William Paul Latulippe 3 Lawrence Place Brighton, Ma 02135 617-783-3702



.

Friday, April 22, 2011

A new Staff Director for Boston City Council.

Boston City Council needs a new Staff Director that doesn't block access to public documents of the City Council and has up to date knowledge of technologies that make Council communications ever more accessible to all. The current City Council Staff Director is behind the times when is comes to assisting the public enquiring about Boston City Council's public documents and using the latest technologies and software to enhance access to City Council public records. By reassigning the current City Council Staff Director and appointing an up to date person with more advanced capabilities Boston City Council would be much improved as representative of the people.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Friday, March 25, 2011

Budget hearing. Boston City Council. City Clerk.

A question that needs to be asked at the budget hearing on the budget for Boston City Council and/or Boston City Clerk budget... What would be the savings if we updated the stenographic machine technology with a computerized stenographic machine that features closed captioning for folks with hearing loss?

Friday, March 18, 2011

Re: Improved Access to City Council Records. Boston.

Regarding Improved Access to City Council Records in Boston, what needs improvement is the attitude. Resistance, deflecting are the attitudes of counter staff and council staff. Staff development needs more emphasis on continuing improvement of bettering customers services attitude toward enquiries. It's not a one time static thing. Encourage folks in their research on the city, on municipal government. Encourage folks to begin research. Avoid the responses that omit information because enquiries failed to be more specific. Guide with hints, tips, pointers, ideas. Enquiries about local government are opportunities to involve people in public service, to recruit young people to public service as a first choice career. Offer high school and college essay contests on sunshine open public meetings, transparent municipal government.

Friday, March 4, 2011

An up to date stenographic machine at Boston City Council

Will Boston City Council get a new stenographic machine for recording Councilors' deliberations in the public meeting of the City Council?... an up to date stenographic machine that includes closed captioning for folks with hearing loss. Budgeted for with public funds the stenographic machine needs to be up to date equipment that's cost efficient to operate.

Bad records management at Boston City Council.

Bad records management at Boston City council needs to be addressed now so that the public has access to public records. Denial is the problem. The City Clerk is a former City Councilor and in denial as well.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

An obstacle to communications. Boston City Council.

An obstacle to Boston City Council communications, the City Council's Staff Director has not only failed in disclosing the stenographic machine record of the public meeting of Boston City Council and has deflected public enquiries for public information.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

An open Boston City Clerk, Assistant City Clerk.

What would City Hall be like if we had a more open Boston City Clerk and a more open Assistant City Clerk?... What would City Hall be like if the offices of the City Clerk didn't intimidate the public?... but actually performed the services of a City Clerk in a welcoming manner with a welcoming attitude instead of the usual bad attitude at the Clerks counter.

It's 2011 and now time to update the offices of City Clerk and Assistant City Clerk that all are welcome with their enquiries about local government.

Good civics programs would encourage all to learn more about municipal government. Good civics programs would encourage people to bring their more awkward enquiries that the offices of City Clerk are prepared and willing.

Good civics programs would offer essay contests for high school students and college students to write about city government, FOI freedom of information public records principles, sunshine open public meetings principles of open government.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Automatically generated transcript

Scroll to the end and check out
"AUTOMATICALLY GENERATED TRANSCRIPT"
a mechanism used for call in radio at
http://audio.wrko.com/a/37087907/hackdom-alive-and-well-in-the-baystate.htm

And checkout transcripts for PBS shows, for example at
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/slaves/etc/script.html

It's easier reading through text than waiting through video recordings.

Did Councilor Pressley request the stenographic machine record?

a.
For which public meeting of the Boston City Council from 2010 to 2011 did Councilor Pressley request the stenographic machine record?...

b.
For which public meeting of the Boston City Council from 2010 to 2011 did Councilor Pressley get a copy of the stenographic machine record?...

Specimen. Sample ballot.

Specimen Ballot
Especimen De Papeleta
Penalty For Willfully Defacing, Tearing Down, Removing Or
Destroying A List Of Candidates Or Specimen Ballot.

Fine Not To Exceed One Hundred Dollars.

La Penalidad Por La Destruccion, Alteracion, O Eliminacion De Esta
Papeleta De Candidatos Sera Una Multa De No Mas De 100 Dolares.

City of Boston / Ciudad De Boston
Specimen Ballot / Especimen De Papeleta
Special Preliminary Municipal Election / Eleccion Municipal Preliminar Especial
Tuesday, February 15, 2011 / Martes, 15 De Febrero De 2011

District/Distrito 7
Ward/Circunscripcion 4 Precincts/Precintos 4,5,8 & 9
Ward/Circunscripcion 7 Precincts/Precintos 10
Ward/Circunscripcion 8 Precincts/Precintos 3,4,5,6 & 7
Ward/Circunscripcion 9 Precincts/Precintos 2,3,4 & 5
Ward/Circunscripcion 11 Precincts/Precintos 1,2,3, & 5
Ward/Circunscripcion 12 Precincts/Precintos All Precincts 1 - 9
Ward/Circunscripcion 13 Precincts/Precintos 1,2,4 & 5



[ City Seal http://www.cityofboston.gov/visitors/about/cityseal.asp ]
Sicut patribus sit deus nobis.
As with our fathers may God be to us
Bostonia condita A.D. 1630.
Boston Founded in the Year of Our Lord 1630.
Civitatis regimine donata A.D. 1822.
City Status Granted by the Authority of the State in the Year of Our Lord 1822

Geraldine M. Cuddyer
Helen Y. Wong
Ellen E. Rooney
Shawn K. Burke
Board of Election Commissioners
Comisionados de la Junta Electoral

Instructions To Voter / Instrucciones Para El Votante
To Vote, completely fill in the Oval to the Right of your choice: [~]
To vote for a person not on the ballot, write that person's name and
residence in the blank
space provided and fill in the oval.

Para Votar, rellene completamente el Ovalo a la Derecha de su seleccion: [~]
Para votar por una persona que no esta en la papeleta, escriba el
nombre y las direccion de esa
persona en al espacio provisto y rellene el ovalo.

Candidates for City Councillor
Candidatos Para Concejal Municipal Del
District/Distrito 7

(For Unexpired Term) / (Para periodo que no haya expirado)
Vote For One / Vote Por Uno
Natalie E Carithers
20 Brookledge Street District/Distrito 7

Danielle Renee Williams
75 Munroe Street District/Distrito 7

Cornell Mills
9 Dennison Street District/Distrito 7

Tito Jackson
37 Schuylar Street District/Distrito 7

Roy Owens
6 Woodville Street District/Distrito 7

Althea Garrison
98 Howard Avenue District/Distrito 7
Former State Representative / Representante estatal anterior

(Write-In) (Escriba el nombre)


.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Job description. City Messenger.

The revised job description for the City Messenger needs to include archival skills for historic preservation of the Annual Reports of city departments. For too long the City Messenger has been withholding access to the Annual Reports that are supposed to be made available, violating responsibilities of the City Messenger. An open Boston City Council would see that the City Messenger would improve access to these public documents that citizens are supposed to have access to without even having to know to ask for the documents. A listing on the web or putting the documents themselves on the web would be taking the responsibilities of the City Messenger seriously. Regrettably the City Messenger and other Boston City Council staff only make a pretense of carrying out what they should actually be doing.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Budgeting for Boston City Council offices and staff.

The budget of Boston City Council offices and the 100 or so Council staff needs to be looked at with respect to the technologies used to communicate the deliberations, the proceedings. For too long the Boston City Council has been resisting enquiries for public information, has been resisting enquiries for public documents from the City Council.

See also:
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/02/08/0112246/New-Hampshire-Begins-Open-Data-Efforts

http://techpresident.com/blog-entry/new-hampshire-opens-its-states-legislative-data

Example of proper data publication:
http://gencourt.state.nh.us/downloads/Members%28Asterisk%20Delimited%29.txt

and more:
http://gencourt.state.nh.us/downloads/

A secret conspiracy to change the government by secret conspiracy.
The real story of Boston City Council is that you aren't welcome to observe the weekly public meeting. The City Council Chamber seating is made uncomfortable for citizens. The attitude of staff is offputting discouraging enquiries and discouraging access to public information for attending what is supposed to be an open public meeting. The 100 or so Council staff are remarkably uninformed about sunshine open public meetings principles and FOI freedom of information public records principles of open government. The 100 or so Council staff enunciate the principles but fail at putting the principles into their daily practice.

Job description. City Stenographer.

Revise the job description for the Boston City Stenographer responsible for recording the public meeting of Boston City Council. The original stenographic machine record shouldn't be removed from City Hall. The original shouldn't be taken home by the City Stenographer for preparing minutes.

A more up to date stenographic machine should be used.

The City Stenographer should retire with an incredible amount of money so that she can live luxuriously. But this City Stenographer should retire.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Job description. Staff Director.

The job description for Staff Director of Boston City Council needs updating to include technology skills for communicating the work of the City Council.

Friday, January 28, 2011

Backstage behind the scenes at Boston City Council

Tour backstage behind the scenes at the Boston City Council. How does the City Council work? What does the City Messenger there actually do? Why does the City Stenographer there use out of date stenographic machine equipment? Why are the seats in the public meeting Council Chamber painfully uncomfortable? How about the Boston City Council public meeting in more comfortable surroundings where observers can sit more comfortably? What are the specialties of some of the 100 or so City Council staff? How do the City Clerk there and the Assistant City Clerk there keep track of the proceedings? How advanced are the technologies used at Boston City Council?

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

How City Councilors keep public information away from citizens.

How City Councilors keep public information away from citizens.

Proper tracking of all the Councilors at Boston City Council isn't made easy for interested citizenry.

What's problematical about Boston City Council are the public records of this city council are kept at too long an arms reach for any interested citizen to read. For example Boston City Council applies the maximun allowable fees under Massachusetts public records laws http://www.sec.state.ma.us/arc/arcrmu/rmuidx.htm And the maximum allowable fees are assessed at each step of retrieval of the public record enquiry violating the spirit of open government FOI freedom of information public records principles. It's a loophole in law that allows custodians of public records to keep a public record out of reach for citizens' ordinary household budgets.

see also
http://anopenbostoncitycouncil.blogspot.com

Charges are assessed for retrieval of the public record at the prorated hourly wage of the lowest paid employee who is capable of performing the task http://www.sec.state.ma.us/pre/prepdf/guide.pdf More charges are added for making paper copies even for electronic public records. Then more charges are added for redacting http://www.sec.state.ma.us/pre/prepdf/pubreclaw.pdf

Compare the 17F Order of Boston City Council.
"SECTION 17F. Requests for Specific Information. The city council at any time may request from the mayor specific information on any municipal matter within its jurisdiction, and may request his presence to answer written questions relating thereto at a meeting to be held not earlier than one week from the date of the receipt of said questions, in which case the mayor shall personally, or through a head of a department or a member of a board, attend such meeting and publicly answer all such questions. The person so attending shall not be obliged to answer questions relating to any other matter. The mayor at any time may attend and address the city council in person or through the head of a department, or a member of a board, upon such subject as he may desire. [Acts of 1951, c. 376, s. 1.17F]"
17F of Chapter 452 of the Acts of 1948
http://www.cityofboston.gov/Images_Documents/Boston%20City%20Charter_tcm3-18855.pdf
http://www.cityofboston.gov/Images_Documents/2007%20the%20charter%20draft20%20(final%20draft1%20with%20jumps)_tcm3-16428.pdf

What's needed are reviews and amendments of all applicable Massachusetts Sunshine open public meeting laws and FOI freedom of information public records laws. A public records commission is needed. Attorneys in the offices of the Secretary of the Commonwealth and in the offices of the Attorney General http://mass.gov/ago/openmeetings that review/enforce public records and open meetings appeals need to be given a title of Administrative Judge.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Skilled, talented Boston City Council staff and new technology.

Among the 100 or so Boston City Council staff where are there people with the talents and skills for making the more effective use of new technology that communicates the proceedings and activities of the Councilors? For too long the City Council has been behind the curve with out of date stenographic services, out of date stenographic machine, uninformed attitudes toward free software http://fsf.org A more up to date Boston City Council would make use of free software City of Boston government could lead other cities governments by getting up to date technology, up to date software for communicating the important efforts of the Councilors. Advanced use of technology would serve the interest of the City Council in balancing the power of the Mayor's Offices.

Ellen M. Fritch and Associates, City Stenographer
373 Silver Street
Boston MA 02127
tel 617 269-5448
emfritch at aol.com
http://www.findacourtreporter.net/index.php?page=detail&get_id=11071

The Honorable William Francis Galvin
Massachusetts Archives Records Management Unit
Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Terry French, Records Analyst
tel 617 727-2816 x259
fax 617-288-8429
terry.french at sec.state.ma.us
http://www.sec.state.ma.us/arc/arcrmu/rmuidx.htm

Dear City Stenographer,

Please keep the original stenographic machine record, a public record at City Hall. Don't remove the original stenographic machine record from City Hall. A copy of the original can be used for editing.

Examples of historic preservation of a few of the previous years of this significant public record, the stenographic machine record, are kept by the Boston City Clerk at the City Archives http://www.cityofboston.gov/archivesandrecords/ and at Special Collections Department of Boston Public Library http://www.bpl.org/research/special/collections.htm


Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Are the out of date City Stenographer services grandfathered in?

Is there a grandfathering in without widespread advertising for bids?... for the out of date City Stenographer services at Boston City Council that use out of date stenographic machine technology. Up to date stenographic machine technology features closed captioning on public meeting webcasts and cable TV broadcasts for folks with hearing loss. Up to date stenographic machine technology or as it's now called scopist http://www.scopists.com/ScopistryWeb/ tchnology lowers the costs.

At so much a cost why should the stenographic machine record, a public record, be removed from City Hall?... taken home by the City Stenographer. The stenographic machine record belongs to the people. The stenographic machine record of the public meeting of Boston City Council should be made available. Look at the photographs of the stenographic machine. Check out on the web the manufacturer's model of the stenographic machine used at Boston City Council currently versus the new technology available.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Is the Office of the Boston City Clerk and Assistant City Clerk in denial?

Is the Office of the Boston City Clerk and Assistant City Clerk in denial about public records management?... How to improve the relationship between the City Stenographer and the staff of the Office of the Boston City Clerk/Assistant City Clerk is a matter of concern for tracking the proceedings of the public meeting of Boston City Council.

Removed from City Hall, should the original stenographic machine record, a public record of the City of Boston, be taken home by the City Stenographer? How to get City Clerk and City Stenographer practices improved for better records management of public records is important for citizen access/open government and for historic preservation of the public record.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Ask your favorite Boston City Council candidate...

Ask your favorite Boston City Council candidate...
. Will you disclose the stenographic machine record?... of the public meeting of Boston City Council.

. Will you better train and better supervise better staff development programs for the 100 or so staff of Boston City Council?... with respect to FOI freedom of information public records enquiries.

. Will you coordinate for better access online?... to materials in the Boston City Council Library http://www.cityofboston.gov/citycouncil/citycouncilpub.asp with the Government Documents Division http://bpl.org/research/govdocs/ at Boston Public Library and the City Archives http://www.cityofboston.gov/archivesandrecords/

. Will you bring Boston City Council into compliance with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts records management guidelines for municipalities? http://www.sec.state.ma.us/arc/arcrmu/rmuidx.htm and comply with historic preservation of City Council records.

see also
By Ann Taylor Schwing
Open Meeting Laws 2d
http://www.openmeetinglaws.com

Boston City Council resources... Research Director Kevin Parker http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=197000231
also retired Research Director Robert Hannan.

By Peter Bachrach
The Theory of Democratic Elitism, A Critique
http://books.google.com/books?id=c9EPAQAAMAAJ
Peter Bachrach, Editor
Political Elites in a Democracy
http://books.google.com/books?id=fnTCNlU8zGcC

International Municipal Lawyers Association
http://www.imla.org/

Peter Kurilecz
Records and Archives in the News RAIN
http://twitter.com/rainbyte

Saturday, January 15, 2011

City Messenger custodian of all City Documents.

Official indifference

Job description.
Why didn't the City Messenger make available the complete listing of City Documents?... the City Messenger job description includes "the City Messenger will be responsible for serving as custodian of all City documents.

Responsibilities.
The complete City Messenger listings of all City Documents need to be made available at http://cityofboston.gov

BOSTON CITY COUNCIL - CENTRAL STAFF

CITY MESSENGER
Under the supervision of the Staff Director, the City Messenger will be
responsible for:

* Providing staff support for assigned committees, scheduling
committee hearings, attending hearings and preparing notes and committee
reports, drafting or revising legislation at the request of committee
members; and

* Preparing for publication all City Council documents (Municipal
Register, Organization of City Government, City Council Minutes,
etc...); and

* Serving as custodian of all City documents; and

* Serving as Sergeant-At-Arms of the Council and escort members of
the Council at all official functions; and

* Preparing Council Chambers for all Council sessions and
hearings; and

* Processing daily incoming and outgoing mail; and

* Performing other duties as assigned by the Council or Staff
Director.

Qualifications:
* Working knowledge of city government and city departments
* Excellent interpersonal skills and attention to detail
* Excellent written and oral skills
* Word for Windows and Excel (Access a plus)
* Boston residency upon hire

Salary range: $40,000-$55,000

Friday, January 14, 2011

A culture of resistance.

Boston City Council has been culture of resistance when it comes to public disclosure and accountability. A new City Council President, even one promising transparency and openness, can't easily alter or affect that culture of resistance.

Continuing to deflect enquiries for the stenographic machine record of the public meeting of Boston City Council violates the spirit of open government.

Be concerned every time a single bureaucrat in an isolated circumstance violates or hampers the public's right to access or information. When it becomes the practice and custom in a government organization, those concerned are multiplied. Far too many governmental entities - - local, state, regional and federal- - are serial violators of disclosure and access laws. That's a huge concern.

Self government doesn't work when governments operate behind closed doors and under cloaks of secrecy. Assuming people want a government that is honest and effective, and one that works for their best interest, they need access to information that allows them to hold that government accountable. It simply doesn't work any other way.

see Ken Bunting
at
http://seattlepostglobe.org/2011/01/14/on-eve-of-open-government-conference-former-p-i-exec-gives-his-views-on-secrecy

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Candidates. Sticker campaign.

Unofficial List of Certified Candidates for District 7 City Councillor
Special Preliminary Municipal Election – February 15, 2011
DISTRICT SEVEN
1. Natalie E Carithers   Dorchester
2? Haywood Fennell ?   Roxbury? Sticker campaign?
3. Althea Garrison   Boston
4. Tito Jackson   Dorchester
5. Cornell Mills   Roxbury
6. Roy Owens   Roxbury
7. Danielle Renee Williams   Roxbury

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

When the Boston City Council Staff Director gets promoted...

When the Boston City Council Staff Director gets promoted it will be an opportunity to get a Staff Director that will no longer block, deflect or delay access to the public records of the City Council. A new Staff Director will take more seriously the spirit of open government and the spirit of democracy by putting an end to the deflecting of enquiries about proceedings of Boston City Council.


Emotional extortion. Staff Director. Boston City Council.
Emotional extortion of the people making enquiries about the proceedings of Boston City Council is done by threatening to take away access to the routine communications emailed from the City Council. After being deflected, continuing to press for access to public records of the City Council gets any access made even more difficult to other communications, or gets access denied.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

The stenographic machine at the public meeting.

Read the more complete stenographic machine record of the public meeting of Boston City Council. Budgeted for with public funds the stenographic machine more completely records the Councilors' deliberations in the public meeting of the Council for public feedback, comment, questions, suggestions and makes accessible the proceedings for folks with hearing loss.


Email and Boston City Council.
Boston City Council distributes email communications that need to include the attachments in the message so the communications are easy to view and share without further the reformatting required.


Technical staff at Boston City Council.
More qualified technical people are needed among the 100 or so Boston City Council staff.


The Library at Boston City Council.
A more open Boston City Council Library that is accessible online please! Public documents of Boston City Council need better historic preservation for studying metropolitan area government. See also http://www.cityofboston.gov/citycouncil/citycouncilpub.asp


Out of print documents at Boston City Council.
Put the out of print public documents online. For example see http://www.cityofboston.gov/citycouncil/citycouncilpub.asp


Communications. Boston City Council.
Rules of Boston City Council need to be updated with respect to online access to public records of Boston City Council.


A new up to date stenographic machine.
Updating the stenographic equipment hardware improves Boston City Council communications with the people. Closed captioning for folks with hearing loss. Real time text of the deliberations during the proceedings of the public meeting of Boston City Council.


Scopism.
The position of scopist was created when computers were introduced to the court reporting profession. Prior to PCs, court reporters oftentimes relied upon notereaders to produce their transcripts manually on typewriters. Because court reporting has become so computerized over the years, the scopist has become much more than just a legal transcriptionist; rather, they also perform vital computer-oriented tasks which can make them invaluable to today's court reporter.
http://www.scopists.com/ScopistryWeb/


Deflecting enquiries.
Too many citizen enquiries are deflected at Boston City Council.


Resisting change.
Improving Boston City Council is resisted by the entrenched souls there that no longer keep open in spirit the doors to their offices.


Emotional extortion.
Staff are used to emotional extortion to deflect enquiries. Boston City Council communications are distributed but then cut off arbitrarily to the people attempting to press concerns.


Ingratiating journalists and broadcasters.
Covering stories at Boston City Council, journalists and broadcasters get compromised, ingratiated to the same officials they attempt to gather news about for print and broadcast media.


Bids. Publicity. Stenographic services.
Bids for stenographic services are too limited for a lack of publicity.


City Messenger. Staff Director. City Stenographer. City Clerk. Assistant City Clerk.
Responsibilities of the City Messenger, Boston City Council Staff Director, City Stenographer, City Clerk and Assistant City Clerk need to be outlined more clearly for the public interested, concerned and following the proceedings of the public meeting of Boston City Council.


An unwelcoming public meeting.
The people aren't made welcome at the public meeting of Boston City Council, the Council chamber seating being remarkably unsuitable.


Some stenographic machine records.
Only a few stenographic machine records of the public meeting of Boston City Council are available at the Boston City Archives and at the Boston Public Library Special Collections Division.