The fight for open government needs support

Do you care about your right to know what your government is doing?

Did you know that there is only one organization in Florida helping citizens, journalists, businesses and government officials alike in the fight for open government and greater transparency?

That’s Florida First Amendment Foundation, and Historic City News is an active and supporting media member.

On Tuesday, November 29, 2016 the Foundation and Historic City News is participating in #GivingTuesday — a global day dedicated to giving.

With the support of members and donors like you, Florida First Amendment Foundation is able to:

• Operate a toll-free hotline available to anyone with a question about Florida’s open government laws. Give us a call: (800) 337-3518.
• Track legislation in Tallahassee and fight efforts to make government less transparent.
• Enlist a team of attorneys offering largely pro bono services to aggressively go after government agencies that block or stall legitimate access to information.
• Conduct Sunshine Seminars across the state, training hundreds of public officials, journalists, attorneys, and concerned citizens each year on Florida’s public records and open meetings laws.
• Publish the Government in the Sunshine Manual and Pocket Guides each year so everyone can have the most up to date Sunshine Law changes at their fingertips.
• And just this year we launched an online training program, the Sunshine Certificate Training Program, in partnership with the Poynter Institute – now open government is everyone’s business.

Our actions get results. In the past year, we led a broad coalition of open government advocates and defeated a bill that would have made it harder to hold agencies accountable for public records violations. In dozens of courthouses and government offices around the country, citizens – with the Foundation’s help – won access to the records and meetings.

The job has never been more challenging and, with your help, we will continue to fight efforts to erode Florida’s long-standing tradition of open government.