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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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