Tag: transparency

A nonprofit government accountability group launched a website this week that encourages the public to join in an effort rate the accessibility of local municipalities and school districts across New York State.

It’s easier to acquire documents listing Nassau and Suffolk county authorities’ secret investigative files than obtain records detailing taxpayer-funded workers’ salaries in the villages of Island Park, Manorhaven or Port Jefferson. Those were among the many findings of an unprecedented audit of 196 Long Island municipalities and agencies’ responsiveness to the New York State Freedom of Information Law (FOIL), the four-decade-old process that the public, media and others use to obtain government documents.