CLT has filed an appeal re: Governor Patrick’s
rejection of our public records law request. We e-mailed it to the
Public Records Division in the Secretary of State’s office today.
A copy of this appeal
– along with our original request to the governor to release the
recommendations of his departments heads on budget savings, and
his rejection of this request – can be found on the CLT website.
Briefly, we argue that the first legal citation used in the
rejection, which comes from a Kentucky case (?), is irrelevant since
it refers to the exemption of the legislature and the judiciary –
not the executive – from public records laws. Then we ask the
Supervisor of Public Records to rule that the second citation does
not apply because we the public have a valid interest in obtaining
this information, if it is "reasonably completed."
Our interest has been intensified by Governor Patrick’s so-called
"Tax Freedom" proposal, which we first thought was another sales
tax-free day like the one in August. Or perhaps it had something to
do with "Tax Freedom Day," the date in late April or May on which
taxpayers stop working for the government and start working for
ourselves and our families.
Alas, Governor Patrick’s "tax freedom" instead adds more time to our
work for the government by allowing new taxes at the local level.
The word "freedom," in this case, applies to the city and towns’
freedom to raise more and new taxes themselves. I can hear Richie
Havens now: "Freedom, FREEdom . . .
"Sometimes I feel like I’m almost gone . . . a long way from home."