Look no further than the daily flood of government press releases for proof that many politicians favor a policy of mushroom management: keeping the public in the dark and feeding them bullshit.

Sorting fact from crap can be a chore. Despite increased access to government data online over the years, some agencies are more transparent than others, information is tricky to secure and many are unaware of their right to know. But, help has arrived.

To cast light on these issues, leading experts on New York State Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) are hosting a free workshop on Long Island to help advocates, civic leaders and members of the public cut red tape. As a primer, the Press has compiled a list of links to help demystify searching government data online and filing FOIL requests. What the public does with all of this information is up to you, dear readers.

“Government transparency isn’t just the concern of journalists,” Lucy Dalglish and Steve Engelberg of the American Society of News Editors (ASNE) said in a statement. “It’s for everyone.”

The workshop is timed to coincide with the ASNE-led Sunshine Week, a week-long, annual, national initiative starting Sunday that highlights the importance of open government through awareness events such as the one coming to Hofstra University next week.

Journalists launched Sunshine Week over a decade ago to combat increased government secrecy. It starts March 16, coinciding with National Freedom of Information Day and the birthday of James Madison, a founding father who wrote the First Amendment.

Leading off the discussion at Hofstra will be Robert Freeman, executive director of the New York Committee on Open Government, which advises the government, public and media on Freedom of Information, Open Meetings and Personal Privacy Protection laws.

Rounding out the panel will be Jason Starr, executive director of the Nassau County chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union; Neil Block, a partner with the Hauppauge-based law firm ofIngerman Smith LLP; Matt Doig, investigations editor at Newsday; and representatives of the Nassau and Suffolk police departments.

The event, scheduled for 11:15 a.m. Wednesday, March 26 in room 211 of Breslin Hall at Hofstra’s campus in Hempstead, is sponsored by the university and the Press Club of Long Island [Full disclosure: this reporter is a PCLI board member]. Attendees are required to RSVP by calling Carolyn James at 631-608-4495, or emailing her at acjnews@rcn.com

HOW TO OBTAIN GOVERNMENT RECORDS

LI’s Sunshine Week seminar follows recent PCLI confrontations with Nassau and Suffolk police over the reduced amount of info provided in local police blotters. A 2012 Press story also found that of the 13 towns on LI, Babylon and Islip were the most reluctant to comply with FOIL requests. Nassau police also have a long history of denying records requests.

Before filing FOIL requests to access government documents, members of the public can search to see if the info they seek—government worker salaries, campaign donations and even many court cases—is already available online through a number of handy databases.

Want to see if an ex or neighbor have been arrested? Some court records can be found online, although results vary on jurisdiction and the most detailed information still requires in-person requests to court clerks’ offices—especially in small town and village courts.

But, the state Unified Court System website allows users to search cases online in a section dubbed e-Courts. Users can log in as members of the public to WebCrims to track current criminal cases by defendant name and WebCivil Supreme to search lawsuits by name of plaintiff or defendant—WebCivil sometimes includes PDF of court documents, too—but criminal cases are scrubbed from the website after sentencing. The main page also includes an attorney directory that can be useful.

Those looking for a federal criminal defendant or lawsuit can sign up for the far-more-informativewww.pacer.gov, short for Public Access to Court Electronic Records and click “find a case.” Unlike the state courts, however, pacer charges 10 cents per page, so users need to enter billing information.

Suffolk residents can read basic, recent—repeat: basic, recent—arrest and incident info in its raw form by reading the Media Supplimental Reports. The Nassau police website has said it’s “under construction” since January, but never included such specifics. The FBI website posts frequently requested “hot topic” documents online.

Curious how many sex offenders live nearby? The state Division of Criminal Justice Services has a database that allows users to search by name, county and zipcode here. But, that database only includes Level 2 and 3 sex offenders, the designation given to those more likely to be recidivists. Parents for Megan’s Law has a database that includes Level 1 sex offenders, the least likely to offend again.

Interested in how your elected officials are spending tax dollars? The New York State Attorney General’s office created a website billed as a clearing house for state government info atwww.nyopengovernment.com. So does the state Comptroller’s office atwww.openbooknewyork.com. But, sometimes it’s best to go straight to the source—like searching lobbyists via the state Joint Commission on Public Ethics website at www.jcope.ny.gov.

Want to know who’s greasing the palms of local lawmakers? Tracking campaign donations can be done on the state elections board website, www.elections.ny.gov, clicking “campaign finance” in the left column, then clicking “view disclosure reports” and choose a search by names of candidates or donors.

But, that database works only for those looking to follow the money to their town, county and state elected officials. To track donors to members of Congress, visit the Federal Election Commission website at www.fec.gov

Curious how much the government worker next door makes? For information that is lacking in the state’s websites—namely, public salaries—nonprofit groups, such as the Albany-based Empire Center for Public Policy, compile the info into searchable online databases. Their website,SeeThroughNY allows users to search public employee salaries, pensions, contracts and other info for various levels of government.

Skeptical of how a nonprofit is spending its money? GuideStar.org is an online database of IRS-recognized nonprofit groups’ tax filings, which sometimes include staff salaries—although the filings can be dated and incomplete, depending upon the group’s bookkeeping.

Unable to attend your local government meetings? State Senate and Assembly meetings as well asNassau (a big red link appears on meeting days) and Suffolk (Users without Real Player will have to download it, and FYI: the feed gets buggy often) county legislatures all live webcast their legislative meetings, although Nassau does not archive the video online. More than half of the 13 towns do the same or something similar, except for Hempstead, Oyster Bay, Babylon, Islip, Riverhead and Shelter Island, which air their meetings on Cablevision channel 18 instead.

Towns that webcast their meetings and archive the videos online include North Hempstead,Smithtown, Southold, Brookhaven, and Southampton. East Hampton town board meetings are broadcast live on LTV and then the video is archived on the town clerk’s website. In Huntington, videos of board meeting are posted online within 48 hours and users can click on the agenda item their interested in to be brought to the part of the video they want to watch.

Looking to search deeds, mortgages and judgments? The Suffolk clerk’s office allows users to search for records on its website, although more detailed records require a visit to the office during business hours, which are often more like bankers’ hours. The Nassau clerk does not have an online search function, but the Nassau comptroller recently began posting county contracts on thatoffice’s Facebook page.

Should none of these resources have the information sought, tips on filing FOIL requests for government documents can be found on the state Committee on Open Government’s website, which includes sample letters to use as a template. To save time and money, file requests as an email and ask for responses electronically—the government can charge 25 cents per page for paper copies of requested files.

Have fun storming the castle!

© 2014, Long Island Press