Archives for August 2009

From the Spokesman-Review

BOISE – A nonprofit group on Tuesday launched a new “government transparency” Web site designed to give anyone who’s interested details about state and local government spending in Idaho, from a mayor’s salary to an agency’s computer purchases.

“Transparency is a non-partisan issue – it’s not Republican, it’s not Democrat, it’s not something that typically divides people,” said Wayne Hoffman, executive director of the Idaho Freedom Foundation, a nonpartisan think tank that launched the site, “OurIdaho.com.”

Through a series of public records request, Hoffman, a former newspaper reporter and former spokesman for then-GOP Congressman Bill Sali, gathered up salary and expenditure data from all Idaho state agencies, major cities, school districts, and highway districts going back 18 months, and fashioned them into the searchable Web site.

“Over the next several months, we’re going to be adding to that data,” he said. “Without that data, how can we begin to have a debate about the size of government? … Hopefully it’ll shed some new light on how your government operates.”

Rep. Phil Hart, R-Athol, proposed a state-run government transparency Web site during this year’s legislative session, but the measure was rejected amid cost questions. State Controller Donna Jones also said then that her office was working toward such a service, but wouldn’t propose starting it in the midst of a state budget crunch.

Hoffman’s site is entirely funded by private donations, which also support the operations of the Idaho Freedom Foundation, which he described as a “free-market think tank.” He said the state controller’s office was very helpful in gathering the data; he thanked to staffers from the office who attended his kickoff press conference.

Idaho Senate President Pro-Tem Bob Geddes, R-Soda Springs, when asked about the project, said, “I think it’s a great thing – I’m kind of a proponent of transparency as well. We should have it.” He added, “What Wayne has done is done a lot of research that a lot of citizens may not know how to do or may not be able to do.”

Among the data on the site are salaries for state and local employees. A quick search showed the governor’s salary $111,989 a year, and the mayor of Coeur d’Alene’s at $2,700 a month, a figure the city confirmed.

Hoffman ran into trouble when he submitted his information request to Coeur d’Alene, which refused to release employee first names on the grounds that that would constitute identifying their gender. Only first initials are shown for Coeur d’Alene city employees in the data.

“We’re not done with Coeur d’Alene,” said Hoffman. “I’m sure they’ll recognize that state law is explicit – names of public employees are public, both the first and last names.”

From the Spokesman-Review

From the Twin Falls Times-News

Practice is unusual in Idaho education, other state agencies

By Ben Botkin
Times-News writer

The College of Southern Idaho says it’s common to destroy records that show how it evaluates firms vying for construction projects.

But that differs from the way the Idaho Division of Public Works and other public institutions handle documents used in selecting contractors.

The Times-News recently asked CSI for public records regarding its selection of the Starr Corp. and CTA engineers and architects to design and build a $6.5 million energy education building.

In June, CSI released evaluation forms with signatures of the four evaluators blanked out. When asked about the redaction, which is not allowed under state public records law, the college responded:

“The evaluation forms … were signed by each evaluator. The names were whited out on copies provided to the Times-News so that evaluators would not be cross examined concerning their evaluations. It is a common practice to destroy evaluation forms after the selection process is complete for this exact reason.”

The forms are used to evaluate proposals from design-build teams. State law allows CSI to select contractors based on qualifications, rather than submission of low bids.

The University of Idaho has used the same design-build system, though the traditional bid approach is more commonplace, U of I officials said. When a design-build proposal is sought, “… There is a team and there are evaluation sheets and evaluation summary sheets,” said U of I spokeswoman Tania Thompson. “Like the bid-tabulation sheets, these are a part of the project record and are kept in the project file. … The evaluation summary sheets show how team members assigned points.”

Those records are part of the project file, which is essentially a permanent record, Thompson said. The university’s project files go back more than 20 years, she said.

At Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, bid evaluations are kept for three fiscal years beyond the end of the year they are submitted, said Bert Sahlberg, spokesman for the college.

Lewis-Clark used the design-build method once for a new nursing building. In that case, the names of the evaluation team and point totals were disclosed, but “people were not privy to how each evaluator rated each bidder,” Sahlberg said.

“We believe that is intentional so that each evaluator can give an honest rating without worrying about undue pressure or future reprisal from a bidder,” Sahlberg said.

Frank Zang, spokesman for Boise State University, said the Idaho Division of Public Works oversees most BSU construction.

The Division of Public Works also oversees state-financed construction at CSI and other on other campuses. It uses an evaluation form similar to CSI’s in-house document, but never destroys them, said Tim Mason, the agency’s administrator.

“We keep them all and the evaluation sheets become part of the project file,” Mason said.

While CSI did not destroy its evaluation forms, state law requires agencies that reject records requests or that remove information from a record before its release to say in writing their legal authority in doing so.

All Idaho colleges and universities, including CSI, are subject to the state public records law.

CSI didn’t provide a legal reason for redacting evaluator signatures, nor has it responded to a Times-News written request for the required explanation.

In response to a second formal record request the college released another set of copies of the evaluation forms.

About a fourth of those copies show blank signature lines, however. The college did not say whether those copies had been redacted, or why the signature lines were blank.

Ben Botkin may be reached at bbotkin@magicvalley.com or 208-735-3238.

From the Twin Falls Times-News