Randy Evans

Evans: Government cuts corners on public participation

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Several times a week, someone contacts me because they had difficulty learning about a government meeting or ran into obstacles trying to get government records. These calls and emails to the Iowa Freedom of Information Council come more frequently than just a few years ago. This is a troubling trend because there is growing citizen distrust of government at all levels. It should not be this way. Government officials in Iowa already have the power to make these citizen frustrations disappear — if they want to.

Featured in Category

Evans: Government needs room for common sense

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People like to talk about what the law says. And in Iowa, the law has a lot to say. Just look at the Iowa Code. It now fills eight volumes and costs $295 for a complete set. But common sense costs nothing — although the 18th century thinker Voltaire once observed, “Common sense is not so common.”

Two examples involving government in Iowa in recent weeks clearly show the Frenchman was on to something. For about 13 months, most state and local government boards and councils have held “virtual” meetings because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

government transparency

‘Trade Secrets’ Shouldn’t Trump Accountability

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The Iowa Legislature wrote some wonderful concepts into the state’s government transparency laws. … But increasingly, 11 other words in the public records law are causing headaches for Iowans who want to monitor the decisions their government makes.