18 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY MARCH 13-19, 2025 www.montereycountynow.com The Foilies 2025: Recognizing the worst in government transparency. By Dave Maass, Aaron Mackey, Beryl Lipton, Michael Morisy, Dillon Bergin and Kelly Kauffman Artwork by Hannah Diaz Covered Up The public’s right to access government information is constantly under siege across the United States, from both sides of the political aisle. In Maryland, where Democrats hold majorities, the attorney general and state legislature are pushing a bill to allow agencies to reject public records requests that they consider “harassing.” At the same time, President Donald Trump’s administration has moved its most aggressive government reform effort—the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE—outside the reach of the U.S. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), while also beginning the mass removal of public data sets. Meanwhile, language is being removed from government websites to comply with Trump’s executive orders. The National Park Service’s website about Stonewall National Monument has shortened LGBTQ+ to LGB, for example. One of the most powerful tools for public transparency in government is the ability to access public records, using tools like FOIA and, in California, the state equivalent (the California Public Records Act, or CPRA). Sometimes agencies refuse to disclose disclosable records, charge exorbitant fees or use other tactics to delay making public information public. In creating DOGE, Trump reorgnized the existing U.S. Digital Service—seemingly part of an effort to exempt DOGE from FOIA, treating its records as “presidential records,” and therefore exempt from public disclosure until at least 2034. Several lawsuits are challenging that assertion and on Monday, March 10, a federal judge ruled in a case filed by the group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington that DOGE records are public records that are likely subject to FOIA, noting the agency has so far been run in “unusual secrecy.” As Elon Musk, who is spearheading DOGE, has himself previously stated: “All government data should be default public for maximum transparency.” When public records requests or even lawsuits don’t work, one of the most powerful tools to fight back against bad governance is public ridicule. That’s where The Foilies come in: Every year during Sunshine Week (which this year takes places from March 16-22), the Electronic Frontier Foundation, MuckRock and the Association of Alternative Newsmedia, of which Monterey County Weekly is a member, team up to publish The Foilies. This annual report, now a tradition at a decade old, names and shames the most repugnant, absurd and incompetent responses to public records requests under FOIA and state transparency laws. Sometimes, the good guys win. For example, last year we highlighted the Los Angeles Police Department for using the courts to retaliate against advocates and a journalist who had rightfully received and published official photographs of police officers. The happy ending (at least for transparency): LAPD has since lost the case, and the city paid the advocates $300,000 to cover their legal bills. Below, you can read about the “winners” of this year’s worst of awards, drawn from all over the country. SHUTTERSTOCK
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