[StBernard] St. Bernard Parish Council, trumpeting transparency, requires posting of all public records requests

Westley Annis westley at da-parish.com
Wed Aug 7 08:28:25 EDT 2013


St. Bernard Parish Council, trumpeting transparency, requires posting of all
public records requests
Print Benjamin Alexander-Bloch, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune By Benjamin
Alexander-Bloch, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
on August 06, 2013 at 9:05 PM

The St. Bernard Parish Council on Tuesday evening passed an ordinance
requiring the parish president to post all public records requests submitted
to parish government, and the government responses to those requests, on the
parish website, starting immediately.

The council has made that requirement retroactive, to include all requests
and the government responses since January, although the council is giving
parish government some leeway on how quickly, and to what extent, it has to
post those documents.

"I spoke to President Peralta and we both have agreed that both the
administration and council want to become the most transparent government in
the metropolitan area for sure, if not the state of Louisiana," Councilman
Guy McInnis said.

The Parish Council and government have made a push during the past year to
post more and more information on its website, creating a "public
information portal," where the public can get information pertaining to
parish assets, finances, grants, personnel and procurement. The records are
available through the parish's website, www.sbpg.net.

"You and I talked about this and you know that I am in favor of this, but
you know, in terms of going back the last seven months, that will take some
time," Parish President Dave Peralta told the council.

McInnis said that the council understands and "if it's not a pdf file and
it's a gazillion pages," the council will provide some leeway.



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