The city of Coeur d’Alene doesn’t read Idaho code the way other public Idaho entities do.
That’s according to Wayne Hoffman, Idaho Freedom Foundation director, who is compiling a list of financial expenditures and employee salaries from dozens of state, city and county entities for a Web site he’s creating to monitor and promote transparency in government.
Only Coeur d’Alene isn’t fully complying.
From the Coeur d’Alene Press
Idaho Gov. Butch Otter spoke out Tuesday against limiting public information about state land transfers, saying he wants “total and complete transparency.”
The governor’s comments came after a committee of top real estate professionals, asked to review how Idaho could update its rules for transfers of state endowment lands to match “modern business practices,” recommended eliminating the requirement for public auctions and exempting the transactions from the state’s Public Records Act.
From The Spokesman-Review
The University of Idaho refuses to release identities of those investigating whether the head of its Caine Veterinary Teaching and Research Center in Caldwell suppressed a 1994 study on bighorn sheep deaths.
From The Associated Press
Idaho recently ranked worst in the nation for public disclosure laws of its elected state officials just months after the House Speaker killed a measure that would’ve likely elevated its ranking.
From the Twin Falls Times News
NAMPA — An open-government watchdog says Nampa officials are dragging their feet in response to his request for financial records that give employees’ salaries.
But city leaders said they were reluctant to release employee names, which some workers feared could be used to target them for identity theft and other crimes.
From the Idaho Press Tribune
Idaho law does not restrict government officials from deleting e-mails they received concerning public business, even though those e-mails can be considered public record.
From the Moscow-Pullman Daily News
Important changes to the Idaho Open Meeting Law take effect today, Attorney General Lawrence Wasden said. Wasden led a coalition of local governments, journalists and open government advocates in presenting changes to the 2009 Legislature. The proposals were adopted by the Idaho House of Representatives and the Idaho Senate and signed into law by the Governor.
From the Idaho Attorney General’s office