
At The Valley Indy, every week is Sunshine Week.
Ansonia Corporation Counsel and city resident John Marini is hosting a workshop of the state’s Freedom of Information Act Monday, April 9 at 7 p.m. at Ansonia City Hall, 253 Main St.
The guest speaker is Tom Hennick, the public education officer for the state’s Freedom of Information Commission.
The Valley Indy plans to stream the workshop live on Facebook and ValleyIndy.org.
The Freedom of Information Act is the public’s most important tool to keep tabs on what your government is up to. It also ensures the government conduct its business in public, even when the public isn’t in the room.
“The main thrust of this workshop is to educate city officials and employees on open meeting and document rules,” Marini said in an email. “But I also want to educate the public to FOI law in general, and make them aware of what they should expect from their government in terms of transparency and access.”
Readers are encouraged .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or post (on Valley Indy Facebook) FOI-related questions to the Valley Indy during Monday’s broadcast.
Hennick has twice been a guest on “Navel Gazing: The Valley Indy Podcast.”
During both appearances he participated in “FOI POP QUIZ,” a reality-based question-and-answer session with The Valley Indy.
During the “FOI POP QUIZ,” The Valley Indy reporters asked Hennick questions about strange FOI roadblocks they had encountered while trying to cover local government in the lower Naugatuck Valley.
Hennick’s most recent appearance on the podcast is posted below. Click play to listen.