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Image provided by: Guilderland Public Library
/ *J ^f%^}'xmm •:>*.«< W The Altamont Enterprise - Thursday, March 16,200^ Editorial * Freeman: A man who preserves democratic ideate It's Sunshine Week, meant to highlight the public's access to government records and meet- ings.. We believe' that, for our democracy — a government of the people, by the people and for the people — to work well, its citizens must be fully and fairly informed. New York State has two open-government laws —The Freedom of Information Law and the Open Meetings Law. We use these laws weekly to cover local public schools, police, and municipal govern- ment. We believe, as United States Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis stated, \Sunshine is the best disinfectant.\ All 50 states have some sort of freedom-of- information or open-meetings law, but New York is one of only a handful to have offices to answer questions about the law. We often rely on the counsel and expertise of Robert Freeman, executive director of the New York State Committee on Open Government, to guide us. He is a tireless and informed advocate of the public's right to know. He has developed a niche that makes his legal expertise sought across the country and around the world. Freeman says he \fell into it\ more than a quarter of a century ago. As a young lawyer working for the state, he was loaned to the com- mittee set up to oversee the implementation of the state's two new open-gov- ernment laws. But Freeman's passion — for discussion, for un- derstanding, for improv- ing the world —was rooted in his upbringing. \My two brothers and I were second-generation Americans,\ Freeman said. He was the oldest of three boys and vividly re- members the family's din- ner-table discussions. \We always discussed the issues of the moment,\ he said. \There was lots of disagreement, and no holding back — ever.\ Freeman went to' Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., major- ing in international af- fairs, and then to law school at New York Uni- versity. He said the most important part of college was \the extension of the dinner table — sitting around with your friends, deciding how to change the world.\ Freeman says he likes his work for three rea- sons. \Number one, the law is based on demo- cratic ideals, consistent with all the discussions around the dinner table and in the dorms. \Number two, as. a brand-new law, it offered great opportunities to be creative. \Number three, it gave me a chance to deal with all kinds of people — from state and local govern- ment, from the public, from the news media.\ When he started, Freeman said, \I was a kid unfamiliar in the ways of Albany...I didn't know who was important. I always tried to give the right answer no matter who called, and I still do.\ Using his nimble mind, decades of experience, and rapid-fire speech, he constantly educates and enlightens others — the press, the public, govern- ment officials — about the law. He speaks to groups ranging from reporting interns just start- ing their careers at The Legislative Gazette to seasoned journalists at the annual New York Press Association convention. Freeman's rational approach can turn rancor into compliance. Five years ago, to use a local example, he was invited to the Guilderland Public Library by the library's director and a trustee to conduct a workshop on open government. The bitterness and rancor which at the time had typified exchanges among library board mem- bers, library employees, and community activists was replaced with civil discourse. 'The more open a board is,\ Freeman said then, \the more the public sees decisions are not easily made.\ The public learns that issues are not black and white, he said, but shades of gray. He described the press as the public's eyes and ears and said that shedding lig^t — some might call it embarrassment—is a way to get a board to comply with the law; weekly newspapers can have \a huge amount of influence,\ he said. We arm each of our. reporters — often the only reporter at a local meeting — with a copy of the state's Open Meetings Law and'with Freeman's advice. He advises reporters to confront boards that are about to go into an illegal executive session with the law's list of eight reasons and say, \Tell me where it is on the list.\ If it's not there, the board shouldn't go into executive ses- sion. Over the years, we have called Freeman, even late at night, when one of our reporters had been bounced from a meeting and, with his words of wisdom, gotten the reporter back in. We have also sought Freeman's guidance count- less times in prying from unwilling hands records that the public is entitled to see. Filing a freedom- of-information request is simple, but it's often difficult to get a government agency to comply. A recent local example is our quest for the contracts of two top Voorheesvillp school adminis- trators. On Jan.. 24, the state comptroller held a pres's conference, claiming to have discovered corrup- tion in the VOorheesville School District. He stated that the former superintendent, Alan McCartney, had-improperly paid himself an extra $127,338 over his 16ryear tenure and that the retired assis- tant superintendent, Anthony Marturano, had, over 11 years, collected $89,069 inappropriately. The same day as the press conference, the school district filed suits against McCartney and Marturano to recoup the money it claims they weren't entitled to. When Marturano first heard of the allegations — that he collected extra vacation and sick-leave compensation without permission—he thought it would all be settled quickly once his contract was reviewed, he said. McCartney has remained silent. \It's all spelled out in the contract,\ Marturano said. He didn't do any- thing that was not per- missible, he said. When we first asked for the administrators' contracts, we were told the contracts couldn't be released since the mat- ter was under litigation. We wrote about it in this space, quoting Freeman. \Litigation has not changed their character,\ he said. \The contracts are just as public now as they were before litigation...They must disclose the contracts,\ he said of the district. Then, in denying our freedom-of-information request, the district told us it didn't have the contracts because they had been subpoenaed by the Albany County District Attorney's Office, which is investigating the case. We found it hard to believe the district or its lawyers hadn't kept copies and, when we dis- cussed this with Freeman, he advised us to ask for written certification from the school district that it had no copies of the contracts. We did so. The school district then responded that we could have the contracts but it would take up to another month to get them back from the district attorney's office. The school district's freedom-of- information officer then relayed a message from the superintendent that, she said, putting in writing that the district did not have the contracts would be creating a new document, which runs counter to the Freedom of Information Law, so it could not be done. Meanwhile, Freeman wrote a letter to the dis- trict attorney's office and to the school district informing them they must disclose the contracts. On Friday, more than a month after our initial request, our reporter, Holly Grosch, was handed copies of the contract by the school district's su- perintendent. We are, as always, grateful to Freeman. The public is the beneficiary. It is, after all, the public's money that is paying for those contracts. You have a right to know what is in them. You can read in this week's paper what those contracts say. But, we should caution you, al- though the contracts are in black and white, the answers are still in shades of gray. This week, we've filed a freedom-of-information request for several more documents from the school that will be needed to tell the rest of th& story. With Freeman's help, we hope to shed more light. The Enterprise — Melissa Hale-Spencer Ombudsman in action: Robert Freeman answered questions about New York's sun- shine laws at a session in Guilderland five years ago. War is a To the Editor: I enjoyed the article about Professor Ken Blume and the role of the Spanish-American War in American history. A little-known patriot joined the United States Marine Corps to fight in that war — General Smedley Butler. His father was a Republican Congressman for over 30 years and Butler himself ran for the Senate in that party. He joined the Marines at the age of 16 and served for 33 years, attaining the rank of major general. He must have seen some action because he won the Medal of Honor — twice. Upon retiring he wrote a little book that started out, \War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives.\ The book goes on, \The general public shoulders the bill. And what is this bill? Mangled . bodies. Shattered minds. Broken hearts and homes... Beautiful ideals are painted for our troops who are sent out to die. This was the war to make the world safe for democracy.\ It's interesting that I never read or heard of General Butler until recently. Tom Doyle Altamont Bring back a doctor To the Editor: After reading about the Schoolcraft House debacle and now the old Dr. Crounse house, I wonder how many readers realize this is just the beginning of the expenditures. We are now entering the period called maintenance, which includes heat, light, insur- ance, etc., etc.; which transfers into hundreds of dollars over the years. This Crounse property situ- ation gives us a wonderful opportunity to avoid a similar problem. How about razing the home and somehow get Dr. Migden involved (if it's not too late) whom I feel we mistreated in the past. Now we can have hundreds of dollars over the years. If you have a choice, I don't think it would be hard to decide. Neil Dwyer Guilderland Center Get your Med D insurance set To the Editor: This is a notice to everyone 65 years of age or older or who has certain disabilities: There is a big change hap- pening for seniors in this country, and seniors may lose the benefit of the change or be hurt by it if they do not act now. many seniors are tempted to set the issue aside and not address it. That could be very cOstly to many who have not decided on a plan by May 15, 2006. Every senior who is 65 or older and has other health insurance coverage should have a letter in hand from their insurer stating, in the Medicare will not be covering any of your drugs after May 15,2006. Changes to the Medicare program (Medicare Part D) are very significant and complicated and I am very concerned that the seniors of this community are going to be hurt due to a lack of understanding. As the Town of New Scotland senior-citizen contact person, I am having difficulty making many of our seniors understand that it is very important that they speak to a counselor about the issue of Medicare Part D. I have spoken to hundreds of seniors who thought they were \set but when they sat down with a trained counselor, found that they, are \not set\ or are paying much more than they need to for their insurance. Medicare Part D counselors are made available by Albany County Department of Aging and will meet free of charge with anyone who makes an appointment. Please take advan- tage of what these extremely knowledgeable people can do for you. \Med D\ is the greatest change in health care insurance since Medicare was established. The rules governing this pro- gram are very complicated and exact words, that their policy provides \creditable\ Drug Coverage. \Creditable\ means it is at least equal to Med D coverage. Medicare will not be covering any of your drugs after May 15, 2006. Please give yourself a great gift and spend the 30 minutes with a counselor to get your Med D insurance set in a no-hassle setting, put your mind at ease, and then go out to lunch and shopping with all the money you have saved. Seniors with low incomes can be approved for additional assistance through the Social Security Adminis'tra- tion's \Extra Help Program.\ Seniors in the Town of New Scotland may contact me at 439- 9038 and make an appointment to meet with a trained counselor at no charge. If you are not a town of New Scotland\ resident, you may contact your town hall, senior-outreach person or town library for more information on speaking with a counselor. Please do not let this assistance pass you by! Susan Kidder New Scotland Senior Contact
