April 1, 2008

Bredesen Administration: It'll Cost Ya $200 To Copy That Public Document

Here's the latest on my attempt to get the Bredesen administration to release the video shot at the governor's mansion during blasting for the underground ballroom: Lola Potter, the Bredesen administration flack who is currently being sued for failure to comply with the state's open records law, is now saying I can have a DVD copy of the video - for $200.

My request is to download the video from the video camera to my laptop over a USB cable, which would cost me and cost the state nothing. $200 to burn some video to a DVD is, quite simply, ridiculous. Perhaps it's an April Fool's joke. And even if the DVD was free, there is no way to guarantee that the state or the contractor wouldn't put digital rights management controls on the DVD to prevent editing.

All I want - and have sought since March 11 - is for the Bredesen administration to comply with the state's open records law, which guarantees me the right to inspect public records - which includes the video - during normal business hours. Nothing in the state's open records law allows the administration to charge an unreasonable fee for copying a public document.

The law says: All state, county and municipal records ... shall at all times, during business hours, be open for public inspection by any citizen of Tennessee, and those in charge of such records shall not refuse such right of inspection to any citizen, unless provided by state law.

The Bredesen administration clearly doesn't want the video out there. They don't want it showing up on YouTube or in campaign commercials. They're spending $8 million of taxpayer money on a ballroom at the same time they're cutting services for the mentally disabled and they're embarrassed about it. I get that. But they created the video and it is a public record. It's time they stopped throwing up obstacles and complied with the law.

Perhaps I should just drop by and ask to see the video.

Update: Potter says they'll only give me a DVD copy of the video, which is in the possession of the construction contractor, if I first pay $200.

There is nothing in the law that says a contractor must allow you to download documents from their resources. We are offering to produce the documents for you; a DVD being the best option, the cost associated is about $200.

And, in response to Ms. Potter citing the state law that, ironically, she is being sued for violating, I'll remind her and the Bredesen administration that there also is nothing in state law that prohibits a citizen from copying a public record that they inspect. In order to accomodate my right under the law to inspect the video, they have to play it on some device. I'll happily download it from whatever device that happens to be. And if they don't have a device to play it on, I'll bring a digital video camera.

Update #2: Now Ms. Potter is saying the video isn't in the state's possession, the contractor has it, so the state doesn't have to make it available for inspection. Thus does the Bredesen administration blast a new "Contractor Loophole" in the state's open records law. All they have to do is turn public records over to a contractor and, bingo, you can't see 'em unless you pay the contractor a lot of money.