Documents obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel show that members of Wisconsin's Public Records Board knew the public record changes they made last summer were "significant" even though the board told the public and news organizations the change wasn't "substantive."
After reviewing hundreds of documents, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Mary Spicuzza said she saw an email from Georgia Thompson, the board’s executive secretary, alerting state records officers to expect "significant" changes to which records could be immediately destroyed due to the expanding definition of so-called "transitory records."
"When we first reported on these changes, there was a lot of pushback from state officials who said these are not significant changes, these were routine clarifications, just expanding an existing rule that dealt with transitory records, or what records could be deleted or destroyed immediately," Spicuzza said.
However, Spicuzza said the email seemed contradictory to the message that board members were giving the members of the public.
"It seemed to really kind of reinforce the idea that these were indeed, significant, sweeping or serious changes to what records could be deleted," Spicuzza said.
Board members have said that the changes were in fact routine and only became more expansive by state lawmakers. But Spicuzza said she believes Thompson’s email tells otherwise.
An attempt to change Wisconsin’s open records rules last year was canceled after public backlash. Spicuzza said roughly 1,900 citizens wrote emails expressing concerns over the changes to transitory records.
"I think part of the reason that we saw such a public outcry was that this came on the heels of the Independence Day holiday last year during the budget, where leaders in the Legislature, on (the) Joint Finance (Committee), really made a last-minute change that would have ... really cut back on what public records people could get and how they could monitor what the government is doing," Spicuzza said.
Spicuzza added, "I think that there have just been a series of concerns about government transparency and how citizens and members of the media can monitor and see how government is working and how decisions are being made."
Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel has been sympathetic to adding some restrictions to open records laws. He has also called for stronger guidance about what records should be retained, urging officials to error on the side of openness.
Gov. Scott Walker has drawn criticism for not releasing records on the state’s deliberation process. However, Spicuzza said the governor signed an executive order last month during "Sunshine Week" calling for state agencies to handle public requests promptly.
"I think that we’re at least hearing from the governor and state leaders that there are efforts to become more transparent," said Spicuzza. "We’ll just have to see how those play out as we file more records requests."