The Indiana Coalition for Open Government

This one of those items that overlaps between personal interest and the day job. The Open Door Law has been getting some press lately (a bit of pun there as the media are the true watchdogs for this this law), and what I have posted on the law can be found at this link.

Those interested in open government, the Open Door Law, and/or journalism need to visit the site (here is the to the home page). The following contains the Coalition's description of its:

Our Vision:

1. We envision a society in which all citizens enjoy full unimpeded access to public records and the public decision-making process. We believe such access is vital to the proper functioning of our democracy.

2. We envision a government where public employees and elected officials act as the servants of citizens seeking access.

3. We envision a public accesss system that is easy and inexpensive for citizens to navigate.

4. We endorse the principles included in the preamble to the Indiana Open Records Act which states:

"A fundamental philosophy of the American constitutional form of representative government is that government is the servant of the people and not their master. Accordingly, it is the public policy of the state that all persons are entitled to full and complete information regarding the affairs of government and the official acts of those who represent them as public officials and employees.''