RE: "one reason being the documentation of their shifting political
positions contained in their extensive legislative records (negotiation and
compromise being hallmarks of the Senate) opens them to charges of
"flip-flopping"."

Very interesting! In fact, one of the impediments to the Tennessee Public
Records Act was that in negotiations, government officials are often
presented with "alternatives" and must work "deals" (compromises) to get
anything accomplished at all. This creates the sentiment that the press and
others are just trying to look over their shoulders and force issues in a
particular direction, which makes government officials very wary of records
in general. 

I believe in government being as open as possible, but it seems to me that
when the press and the public attempt to use every email sent by an
individual as "evidence" of something, we are just trying to micromanage
people that should be given some discretion to do the job they were elected
to do. There is a limit to the value we get from any recordkeeping exercise.
I think we will need to start seeing more of the costs associated with email
management activities. Cost shifting to some public individuals and
organizations for global records requests has become a factor in the Open
Records issues debates in Tennessee. These cost shifts are intended to
create a situation where abnormally large requests for records that are not
budgeted for can be dealt with and also to ensure that the process of
requesting records does not become a tool for those driven by self-serving
agendas.

Records managers get caught in the middle of the "records wars" - one side
demanding any record they can get their eyes on and the other side trying to
not create anything worth looking at.

John


********************************
John T. Phillips
MSLS, CRM, CDIA, FAI
Electronic Records Management
Consulting, Education, Research
Information Technology Decisions
www.infotechdecisions.com
865-966-9413


-----Original Message-----
From: Records Management Program [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of WALLIS Dwight D
Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 2008 4:48 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Was RE: RAINdrop: Sarah Palin's E-Mail Hacked - Now Personal vs
Private Email, Phone Messages, and Communications

John Phillips wrote: So, it may be the politicians (eventually to be
government employees) that eventually set a precedent for public/private
behavioral boundaries and responsibilities.

Note, however, that the only politician in this discussion currently subject
to public records access requirements for work related e-mails is Ms. Palin.
Just to clarify a point - this does not apply to politicians in general,
only those coming from executive branch backgrounds. 

One of the interesting aspects of this for those of us who are students of
political science and history is that this turns on its head a political
"truth" that has been floating around for decades - that senators for
various reasons can not become successful presidential
candidates: one reason being the documentation of their shifting political
positions contained in their extensive legislative records (negotiation and
compromise being hallmarks of the Senate) opens them to charges of
"flip-flopping". In this regard, the executive branch has always been
considered superior. Now we see public records laws changing this, perhaps
(regardless of current partisan considerations) actually leveling the
playing field.

To clarify another point provided to me by another kind and attentive
listserv member - "irregardless" is not a word. I apologize for spreading my
bad grammar!

Dwight Wallis, CRM
Records Administrator
Multnomah County Fleet, Records, Electronics, Distribution and Stores
(FREDS)
1620 S.E. 190th Avenue
Portland, OR 97233
Phone: (503)988-3741
Fax: (503)988-3754
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