Our advocacy for open government in recent years

•    Winning good policies
—FOIA access to DC Council members’ emails on private accounts
—Best access policies nationwide on MPD body camera video
•    Auditing DC government performance under open government laws
—Meeting notices and minutes published by public bodies
—FOIA processing by DC agencies
•    Researching best practices to help DC officials do the right thing
—Reviewing laws nationwide on access to officials’ text messages on government business
—Studying regulations elsewhere for implementing an open meetings complaint process
•    Defeating unwise policies
—DC Council’s claim of “speech and debate clause” exemption from FOIA
—DC attorney general’s claim that police video shown in court was closed to press
•    Filing complaints – exposing secret meetings of board of United Medical Center
•    Assisting press with research – official emails used in education story in City Paper
•    Assisting community groups with open government issues – charter school teachers seeking more transparency in schools’ data and decisions
•    Fighting for Office of Open Government
—Annual oversight and budget testimony to Council
—Advocacy for fair treatment of Office director and against weakening independence of Office
•    Bringing together officials and the community – annual “Sunshine Week Summit” in March
•    Answering hundreds of questions from those using DC open government laws
•    Keeping DC open government issues in the public eye with “Transparency Watch” blog posts
•    Leading in National Freedom of Information Coalition – hosting meeting of 40 state groups held in DC two years ago
•    Testifying against legislation requiring automatic expungement of arrest records

What else we will be working on in the coming year and can use help with
•    Writing and winning DC Council passage of full set of updated open government laws
•    Monitoring DC Office of Open Government as new board and staff take charge
•    Evaluating the latest form of proactive government publishing – DC “open data”
•    Improving user experience in the online request process for public records (DC FOIAXpress)

How to find us
•    On the web: www.dcogc.org
•    Facebook: www.facebook.com/dcogc/
•    Twitter: www.twitter.com/DCOGC
•    P.O. Box 73771, Washington, DC 20056
•    Monthly board meetings open to all