At long last, a victory for Ohioans' right to know

In its mad dash to complete its work and to give the appearance of accomplishment, the 126th Ohio General Assembly this month railroaded through to Gov. Bob Taft a heaping helping of legislation. Most notably among its actions have been a 1.8 billion capital spending plan, mandates to strengthen high school curriculum and legislation enacting Ohio's new voter-approved minimum wage.
Almost lost in this legislative frenzy, however, has been passage of a major revision to Ohio's public records law that provides a long-awaited victory for Ohioans' right to know. We strongly urge Taft to sign amended House Bill 9, and urge Gov.-elect Ted Strickland and Attorney General-elect Marc Dann to make its implementation and enforcement an early administration priority.
Although we generally prefer to see robust debate on important revisions to public policy, we're pleased to see the Legislature act -- even in the 11th hour -- to grant meatier protections for those seeking public records at all levels of government. Considering the bill has been languishing in the Assembly since Republican State Rep. W. Scott Oelslager of North Canton first introduced it in January 2005 and considering this Republican-controlled Legislature has not always been a champion of open government, passage of the protections merits widespread support.
Not that all is perfect with this bill. To be sure, we remain troubled by a provision that sharply restricts release of names of people allowed to carry concealed firearms. The legislation also is stripped of a measure that would have created a records ombudsman to oversee questions, resolve problems and assist the public with records requests. Fear of creating a costly and bloated bureauccy torpedoed that laudable idea.
Nonetheless, several key provisions of the legislation are praiseworthy. These include:
Mandatory public records training for local government and public school officials throughout the state to ensure all are familiar with the intent and application of the law. Too often, public officials have feigned ignorance to block our legitimate access to public documents.
Requirements for public offices to post records and policies and to assist the public in making requests.
Establishment of fines for public officials for unsubstantiated delays in releasing public records.
Expansion of the definition of public records to include some previously protected documents.
The bill also allows anyone who successfully sues a public official for falure to comply with the records law to recover damages and attorney fees, thus removing a major obstacle to rightfully challenging authorities.
Dann can take lead
The new law specifically charges the attorney general with ensuring that most of the provisions are implemented and enforced. Liberty's Marc Dann, whose successful campaign for attorney general was predicated on government openness, should waste no time in overseeing establishment of training programs, public records commissions and other key aspects of the law.
To be sure, the open-records protection is no panacea for complete openness by those who spend our hard earned tax dollars. Nor does it mean that other efforts to quash the public's right to know will be scuttled. But it does at last begin to build momentum for open government and against those who'd prefer to keep its inner workings under lock and key.