newsobserver.com projects - open government - Comments

Perdue not really letting light in

PoliticalJunkie — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:39:10 -0400

Why has she refused to have an outside investigation into how the Highway Patrol managed to "lose" a year's worth of Easley travel records?

Re: Records bill has foes

j1c2kp — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:09:36 -0400

This should be a non-issue, citizens and media should not have to sue to obtain public records. But since they do in some cases, then their legal fees should be paid by the public office that has refused to do their job.

Re: Records bill has foes

JPQuick — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:18:17 -0400

Providing transparency in government would empower the population to question where $18 billion in tax dollars are spent every year.

Questions might also be raised about the macroeconomic impact of introducing a $1.6 billion tax increase in the middle of the worst recession since the Great Depression.

Lobbyists don't like questions, unless they have been scripted by the political machine that controls this state.

For Bev Perdue, the needs of those 1500 lobbyists take precedence over the needs of the electorate.

This bill will not pass while Beverly Perdue is still in office.

Someone better tell the folks at Wildlife Resources

Isaac136 — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 09:20:42 -0400

about the open records law. If their confusion about open meetings indicates anything, they're going to need outside counsel to explain this law to them, too.

6 more reasons why you might be a wildlife commissioner

friartuck — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 21:19:01 -0400

You might be a wildlife commissioner if:
1. You speak fluent camoflague.
2. Your definition of a "turkey call" is any telephone conversation with a member of the General Assembly.
3. You consider political contributions as an effective use of natural bait.
4. You think a paternity test is something you have to pass in order to get a political appointment.
5. Your favorite work of fiction is The Handbook of Natural Resources Management.
6. Your think an executive order is what you bought Bev Perdue for lunch.

Wildlife Commission switches gears

Isaac136 — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 20:53:44 -0400

I think it's great that the Wildlife Commission suddenly remembered who it's supposed to work for. Looks like the bowhunters opened up the shades so Mr. Seegars could see the light. I bet he's thanked them warmly.

Re: Hackney favors another run at records bill

omegaman — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 17:22:45 -0500

If you're going to do that then you should require all persons, counties and municipalities who sue a government entity and lose should pay the legal costs of the government entity defending its position.

Re: Hackney favors another run at records bill

ncpublius — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 16:37:33 -0500

About time. Geez

But they need to make them pay out of their personal pockets, not our's.

Re: Will the House show get the greenlight?

ThoughtCrimes — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 17:06:58 -0500

What's the point? SO we can see these slimy critters spending us into oblivion? You wanna see what goes on? Just watch a documentary about lions eating their young.

Re: Will the House show get the greenlight?

j1c2kp — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 13:11:17 -0500

Maybe Easley could reimburse the state for trips, salaries for wife and family, and many other perks. That would certainly help raise money so we could watch the dog and pony show.

Good points

Anglico — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 11:08:11 -0500

I find the website infuriating and very difficult to use for exploratory research. You have to already know most of what you're looking for, which pretty much defeats the purpose.

Re: Perdue proposes 'open book' on contracts

FFC1304 — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 06:17:14 -0500

Even 'open books' cant stop the NC democrat CORRUPTION, most likely.

Re: The principles of online sunshine

rossreport — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 20:31:48 -0500

I'd like more hearing rooms at the General Assembly accessible online.
Right now only the two main chambers and the main finance and appropriations rooms are streaming. But there's a lot of action that takes place in judiciary and other hearing rooms.
Not all of us can afford to hang out in Raleigh all day.

thanks for asking

kmr

Re: The principles of online sunshine

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 17:21:59 -0500

I agree that timeliness is a key goal for online sunshine, and one that the legislature, if not state departments, handles well.

But the search function is a problem. Say you're looking for a bill in the 2007 session that would have put a moratorium on capital punishment. Type "capital punishment" in the "Search Bill Text" box and the top results are about corporal punishment, streamlined capital cases, capital financing and a local option sales tax. Search for "moratorium"? Not there.

You have to search for "execution" to get the bill.

— RTB

Re: The principles of online sunshine

gercohen — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 16:35:44 -0500

thanks Jeff for the praise.

At the NCGA, we've automated a lot of the process, so within a few minutes of a member filing a bill, it's online. We link the bill history, roll call votes, etc. As to presentations, we're trying to do a good job of gathering up power point presentations and posting them online for interim studies. At standing committees during session, there are rarely visuals and most of the time we just get paper handouts from presenters.

As to having links to sections of the budget bill (or for that matter, to sections of any bill), the bill section styles are created by the drafter with a domino.doc template initially in MSWord, then later converted to .pdf and .html, and I've asked the NCGA IT staff if it is possible to put some sort of tag or anchor there that would allow a direct link. I'll post the answer.