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Records/Archives in the News Part 03 01/13/00



Records/Archives in the News r991212b
There are 5 stories in this posting.

Beaufort Gazette (South Carolina) 12/12/99
Expect to pay for information in Port Royal

Beaufort Gazette 12/12/99
Hampton info hard to obtain

Beaufort Gazette 12/12/99
Getting information in Allendale no easy task

Beaufort Gazette 12/12/99
Yamassee officials take care with info

The New-Times (Danbury, CT) 12/12/99
A piece of history


_______________________________________________________________
Beaufort Gazette (South Carolina) 12/12/99
Expect to pay for information in Port Royal

by Jessica Van Egeren
<SNIP>
Official documents in the Town of Port Royal are available to citizens - but 
often at a cost. 
In May 1998 Port Royal Town Council created a $35 Freedom of Information Act 
research clerical fee. This fee must be paid before requested information is 
provided to a citizen. 
The town keeps records of payments, council minutes, and the actions and 
minutes from the town?s Zoning Board of Adjustments and Appeals and the 
Supervisory Planning Team. According to Town Manager John Perry, the fee will 
not be charged for copies of information if it is readily available for Town 
Hall staff to locate. 
?Readily available? information includes such things as ordinances or council 
actions occurring in the current calendar year. Town Hall has a four-person 
staff, with no position specifically designated for locating filed documents. 
<SNIP>
<SNIP>
?The fee is not meant to be an obstruction for citizens to receive 
information,? Perry said. ?But the primary duties of our employees must come 
first. When employees are searching for information, we have to pay someone 
to do the primary things.? 
Providing information from past years entails locating files that are stored 
upstairs in the old fire station, the Port Royal Public Works Department and 
another rental space outside Town Hall. 
Scott Hammet, vice chairman for the Zoning Board of Adjustments and Appeals, 
said he has made numerous FOI requests and is frustrated with the difficulty 
of getting town information. 
On Nov. 12, 1999, for instance, Hammet submitted an FOI request to review the 
Supervisory Planning Team file. He received a copy of the minutes from Jan. 
28, 1999, through Aug. 19, 1999. He was told that any additional information 
would require research, and a deposit would be necessary before the town 
could proceed. 
Because Town Hall does not keep records before the current year, Hammet 
received what was available. The rest of his request required research 
outside Town Hall, and as the ordinance reads, this costs $35. 
Hammet contends the system is Port Royal?s attempt to limit public access to 
documents. 
?The town is erecting financial barriers to prevent my gaining access to 
these public documents,? he said. ?The SPT is a very powerful committee. The 
council has granted it the authority to go into people?s backyards and force 
compliance to the committee?s vision of government utopia, but I have to pay 
to get copies of their records.? 
He also said he is he unable to get copies of the Port Royal zoning 
ordinances adopted over the past year, even as a member of the Zoning Board 
of Adjustments and Appeals. 
<SNIP>

________________________________________________________________
Beaufort Gazette 12/12/99
Hampton info hard to obtain

by Jim Newman
<SNIP>
Information that is public record, according to the S.C. Freedom of 
Information Act, is treated by some government and law enforcement entities 
as highly classified material. 
The extent of challenges levied at requests for information in Hampton County 
varied widely over a 2-1/2-week effort. 
Wednesday, Sept. 29
At the Hampton County Sheriff?s Department, it took three visits and numerous 
phone calls to be able to inspect incident reports. 
Attempts to look at the jail log failed. 
One deputy asked, ?Who are you with?? - then said, ?I just wondered if you 
were with SLED or something.? 
Maj. Luther Bellinger, acting for Sheriff Lee Brown who was not available, 
offered three incident reports for inspection, but would not allow viewing of 
reports from the past 14 days, which is allowed by the FOIA. 
Bellinger?s reasoning was that he preferred not to allow the inspection of 
crime reports, some of which might still be under investigation. He also 
feared possible unscrupulous use of the information. 
?I don?t agree with that rule because there are people out there who will 
misuse it, but I abide by the Freedom of Information Act,? he said. 
Obtaining reports for the past 14 days also would be a problem, he said, 
without having sufficient notice to compile them. Reports older than the last 
24 hours had been filed, he said. 
He said a call back in the next day or so would give them the time to 
assemble the materials requested. 
?I?m not refusing, but I can?t shut the department down to pull (reports) for 
the last 14 days,? Bellinger said. 
The jail log was not made available for inspection. 
Bellinger said he wanted to confer with the sheriff first before making the 
information available. He was informed of the FOI mandate allowing record 
availability, which he acknowledged. 
?I?m not refusing you, but I don?t want to do anything that?s wrong. The 
public needs to be aware, but I think it?s not a good policy for a 
lawperson,? he said. ?But, for what it (the FOIA) represents, I support it.? 
Monday, Oct. 4
Bellinger was contacted by phone the following Monday regarding the viewing 
of incident reports going back for 14 days, as well as the jail log. 
He agreed to the request to view these materials, saying Wednesday would be 
the best day to come and look at them. Arrangements were made to return to 
the Hampton County Sheriff?s Office on Wednesday before noon. 
Wednesday, Oct. 6
Another attempt was made to meet with Bellinger as per the previous 
arrangement. Again, the attempt to see the records was stalled. 
A deputy at the front desk said Bellinger was out with the flu and that it 
would be necessary to check back. 
<SNIP>
<SNIP>
Friday, Oct. 8
Another attempt to reach Bellinger to inspect the incident reports and jail 
log failed. 
<snip>
Monday, Oct. 11
Bellinger was successfully contacted and arrangements were again made to 
inspect the incident reports and jail log. He agreed to meet at 11 a.m. on 
Wednesday. 
By this point, the mere mention of ?I?m the one who?s been requesting to see 
the incident reports and jail log? resulted in immediate recognition, as word 
of these requests apparently had spread around the sheriff?s department. 
Wednesday, Oct. 13
A second meeting with Bellinger yielded some positive results: Sheriff?s 
department incident reports were made available. 
But it almost didn?t turn out that way. 
Bellinger, this time armed with his own FOIA information, said he was still 
reluctant. 
?The way I?m interpreting this, I don?t have to give 14 days (worth of 
incident reports),? he said, holding paperwork from the S.C. Attorney 
General. 
An ensuing debate - lasting about 10 minutes - regarding FOIA interpretation 
eventually made some headway, but not before hitting a stumbling block on 
viewing the jail log, which Bellinger was adamant about withholding. 
?The jail record - I cannot give that,? he said. 
Bellinger again was shown the section of the FOIA allowing access to the jail 
log for the past three months, after which, leaning back in his office chair, 
he agreed to release it. 
However, he said it would take time to compile and another meeting would be 
necessary in order to view the jail log. 
?This is the first ?full? FOI challenge I?ve had,? Bellinger said, 
emphasizing that no one, not even the media, had asked to see the jail log in 
the past. 
At the deputies? office, deserted because Hampton County General Sessions 
Court was in session, Bellinger said he would provide incident reports dating 
from Sept. 28 to Oct. 12. 
A few minutes later he returned with a stack of files and began sorting the 
requested dates. He inspected and separated those that were still under 
investigation. 
<snip>
<snip>
Bellinger said that lack of a ?full? familiarity with the FOIA largely 
explained his reluctance to allow access to these materials. 
?I have nothing to hide from the public,? he said. ?The public has a right to 
be aware. I?m going to be leery until I feel more comfortable (with it).? 
<snip>
<snip>
Monday, Oct. 18
A call to Bellinger to firm up a time to meet on Wednesday became moot after 
he transferred the call to the ?jail administrator,? who said a written 
request was required for inspecting the jail log. 
Because an FOIA request is not required under these circumstances, attempts 
to see the material were terminated at this point. 
Bellinger?s attitude throughout this period was congenial, which was little 
consolation after so many direct attempts to see this information had fallen 
through. 
The least resistance was encountered on requests for meeting minutes from 
Hampton County Council and two school districts. 
<snip>

________________________________________________________________
Beaufort Gazette 12/12/99
Getting information in Allendale no easy task

by Paul Alongi
<snip>
If you?re curious about crime in Allendale County, be prepared to answer a 
barrage of questions before getting any information. 
A recent visitor to the Allendale County Sheriff?s Office asked for a stack 
of incident reports - documents that provide suspects? ages, names and races. 
?We don?t give that kind of information to just anyone who walks off the 
street,? secretary Maye Smith said. 
But according to South Carolina?s Freedom of Information law, they should. 
After the visitor showed Smith a copy of the law, she referred him to Sheriff 
Francis Coath. 
Coath drilled the visitor with questions: What is your name? What county do 
you live in? Why do you want the information? 
When the interrogation was over, Coath flipped through a stack of papers, 
ignoring the visitor?s repeated requests for the public documents. 
Lt. Tom Carter, who had overheard the conversation, asked to see the 
visitor?s driver?s license, even though the law does not require that a 
citizen show identification or answer questions before obtaining public 
information. 
Finally Carter provided the visitor with a stack of incident reports - but 
only after he showed his driver?s license. 
The encounter was part of a statewide audit to see how well freedom of 
information laws are working in South Carolina. 
The visitor asked for public information from county and town governments in 
Allendale. 
For each request, he was asked his name and reason for wanting the 
information, although the FOI law doesn?t require South Carolina residents to 
provide either. 
<snip>

________________________________________________________________
Beaufort Gazette 12/12/99
Yamassee officials take care with info

by Marti Gatlin
<snip>
The overseers of Yemassee?s public records take their jobs seriously - they 
really guard the records. 
In the building complex that houses the town hall, mayor?s office, town clerk 
and police department, it seemed the officials took on the title of reporter. 
During a Sept. 29 visit to the small town to inquire about public records, 
the town clerk, mayor, town hall staff and police chief were polite but 
guarded about releasing information that?s available to the public under the 
S.C. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). 
Jeanette ?Midge? Tuten, Town Clerk/Treasurer, greeted the reporter 
pleasantly. 
In her office, she showed her handwritten notes on a legal pad of the August 
minutes from the Yemassee Town Council meeting. The notes hadn?t been 
transcribed yet. 
Tuten said she would get information but said that it would take a few 
minutes. After making a copy of the minutes, Tuten came back with Mayor J.L. 
Goodwin and introduced him. 
She never handed over the copy of the minutes. 
Sitting in his office, Goodwin wanted to know the reporter?s interest in the 
Town of Yemassee and where the reporter lived. 
After requesting Goodwin?s and the town manager?s monthly ex-penses for July 
and current minutes of the town hall?s last meeting, the reporter was told 
that such requests had to be made in writing. 
According to Chapter 4, Title 30 of the state FOIA, the following records of 
a public body must be made available for public inspection and copying during 
the hours of operation of the public body without the requester being 
required to make a written request to inspect or copy the records when the 
requester appears in person, to include: 
minutes of the meetigns of the public body for the preceding six months,
documents identifying persons confined in any jail, detention center or 
prison for the preceding three months.
Goodwin asked the reporter to write ?very specific? letters for each request. 
?I will check with my town lawyer and follow the law,? he said. ?I?ll get to 
them in the next few days.? 
No one was available that day in the police department. 
The next day the mayor left a message on the reporter?s home phone answering 
machine, even though that number hadn?t been provided to him. 
<snip>

________________________________________________________________
The New-Times (Danbury, CT) 12/12/99
A piece of history
Harriet Beecher Stowe poem turns up at The Gunnery

by Robert Miller
>snip>
WASHINGTON, Conn. Sorting through the contents of a worn envelope left to 
gather dust in the basement of The Gunnery, the private college preparatory 
school, Paula Krimsky pulled out a piece of cardboard, and found, if not a 
gold nugget, at least a bona fide literary curio. 
Tucked in among the forgotten documents, she serendipitously found a 32-line 
New Year?s keepsake written by the author of ?Uncle Tom?s Cabin.?? It?s not a 
literary masterpiece Stowe?s poetry is more akin to greeting card versifying 
than it is to ?Leaves of Grass.?? But it is a lost bit of her life, 
rediscovered. 
?I thought ?Isn?t that nice,? ?? said Krimsky, who is slowly working her way 
through 150 years of old letters, class notes, photos and documents of the 
school for its sesquicentennial celebrations that begin next year. 
Krimsky, who is trying to bring order to what has been stored 
higgledy-piggledy in the basement of Bourne Hall since 1958, exhibited the 
card in October as one of many archival discoveries she?s made. 
?For me, it?s not the most exciting thing I?ve found,?? she said. Other 
things, including letters written by Frederick Gunn, the school?s founder, 
have moved her more. 
But given the authorship of the poem, it immediately caught people?s 
attention. 
?We?re very excited,?? said Katherine Kane, director of the Harriet Beecher 
Stowe Center in Hartford. ?What a thrill to find something like this.?? 
But what?s not clear is whether Stowe actually wrote the poem the year it was 
dated 1894. 
By then, said Joan Hedrick, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning biography 
?Harriet Beecher Stowe A Life,?? Stowe was 83 years old, had been laid low by 
a series of strokes and was two years away from her death. Her literary 
career had ended in 1878 with her last book ?Poganuc People.?? 
In 1893, in a letter to Oliver Wendell Holmes two years before the poem Stowe 
wrote ?I make no mental effort at all my brain is tired out . . . now I rest 
me, like a moored boat, rising and falling on the water, with loosened 
cordage and flapping sail.?? 
?It would be unusual for her to be writing poems at that late date,?? said 
Hedrick, a professor of history at Trinity College in Hartford. 
But Hedrick said Stowe did write occasional verse and hymns as gifts for 
friends on weddings and holidays. She also said Susan Howard was an old, dear 
friend of Stowe?s. The penmanship matches the way Stowe wrote her signature 
in later life her full name instead of ?H.B.? with the cross of the T in 
?Stowe?? reaching all the way across her last name. 
What is possible, Hedrick said, is that one of Stowe?s twin daughters, Eliza 
or Hatty, may have written out the poem following their mother?s directions. 
It may also have been a poem Stowe wrote earlier, then recycled for the 
occasion. 
?I really can?t tell unless I see the handwriting,?? she said. ?But it?s 
possible she did write it.?? 
And Stowe did have ties to The Gunnery. Her son, Charles, attended the school 
from 1864-65, until he ran away to be a sailor. Krimsky said he later wrote a 
letter explaining his actions, finding the school blameless for this 
departure. Gunn and Stowe were also ardent abolitionists, and both were 
Connecticut natives Gunn was born in Washington and Stowe in Litchfield. 
>snip>
<snip>
For Krimsky, Gunn?s letters are her most interesting discoveries. She found 
one he wrote from North Carolina, giving a long account of a conversation he 
had with a slave there. 
<snip>
<snip>
When Gunn started his first school in Washington The Washington Academy 
parents withdrew their students rather than let an opponent of slavery teach 
their children. Krimsky has found ?wonderful letters?? Gunn wrote to his 
betrothed, Abigail Brinsmade, while he taught in Pennsylvania. To save paper, 
he wrote some letters cross-hatched, with the writing running first 
vertically, then horizontally across the page. 
The school stored all this material, including the Stowe poem, in cardboard 
boxes in the basement of Bourne Hall. 
?I get the feeling when the school moved to the Bourne Estate in 1958 they 
simply cleaned out all the desks and closets, put all the stuff in boxes and 
dumped it down here,?? she said. ?Then when anyone had anything new, they?d 
come upon all this stuff, think ?I can?t deal with all that!? and just dump 
more on top.?? 
<snip>
<snip>
Hired to coordinate the school?s 150th anniversary celebration, Krimsky was 
astonished to find all these documents, albeit in neglect. 
?I realized it was a wonderful history that had to be used,?? she said. 
One Gunnery student, Farley Whetzel, is studying Gunn?s letters as part of 
her senior project. Krimsky is organizing some displays of the material for 
the anniversary. 
And there are still a lot of dusty boxes and dried envelopes to look through. 
Krimsky does not know what she?ll find next; that?s part of the fun. 
?These were true New Englanders,?? she said of the unintentional creation of 
The Gunnery archives. ?They might not have always taken care of everything. 
But they never threw anything out.?? 
<snip>







Peter A. Kurilecz CRM, CA
PAKURILECZ@AOL.COM

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