Here’s a novel approach to open government - require any critics seeking records to post exorbitant deposits before records are released
A special city attorney and the wife of a former alderman have been asked to pay more than $34,000 if they want to see what the mayor, city staff and elected officials have been talking about over e-mail and cell phones during the past year.O’Fallon special attorney Richard Fischer said the city will not comply with five public record requests he made last month unless he first pays a $17,250 deposit to cover anticipated attorney fees to determine what can be released.
This all relates to a series of messy disputes in O’Fallon, which is now stuck with paying outside counsel $225 per hour for legal support because it doesn’t want to have special counsel who question the powers that be. So much for transparency in government.
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