This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Here is the best and worst of Utah Freedom of Information in 2011:

Worst

HB477 • This ill-conceived bill was by far the worst threat to Utah government transparency as lawmakers railroaded through major revisions to the state's Government Records Access and Management Act during the 2011 legislative session.

After protests at the Capitol, rare front-page editorials and threats of a referendum from all sides of the political spectrum, legislators met in special session to repeal the measure. A study group followed with a promise of less-drastic reforms during the 2012 session. At this writing, nothing has been publicly released about the proposed revisions. The public should be vigilant in watching the process this time around to see if legislators can deliver meaningful reform that recognizes the public's right to know and addresses legitimate government concerns.

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Redistricting • Although lawmakers put on a great show in the name of transparency during the redistricting process, all of the public hearings, websites and release of other information became lip service and window dressing. People of all political stripes should be disillusioned with GOP legislators who said it was their private prerogative to meet in closed caucus meetings to finalize voting district boundaries for statehouse and U.S. congressional seats. The public should contact their legislators about supporting a bill that opens up legislative caucuses except for those involving party business. Utahns can only hope the bill gets at least a legislative hearing.

Perhaps the most telling quote of Utah's GOP elitist secrecy came from House Speaker Becky Lockhart, R-Provo, who said, "When a family has a fight, they don't do it on the front lawn. … Not that there was a knockdown drag-out, but there was some very high emotions. There is a lot of stress in this process."

It's an outrage that our lawmakers don't consider "we the people" part of the club who should be allowed to watch this process, warts and all.

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Salaries • Lawmakers continue to listen to a minority of Utahns, most of them public-sector workers, who want to make salary and wage information off limits to the public. They have made failed proposals to water down the release of data by only allowing the public to see salary ranges without the names of the public officials behind them. How the public dime is spent should be basic information every Utahn should be able to inspect.

Best

Some local governments now understand that open government is good government. After all, it makes good political sense to support transparency. Transparency initiatives in Salt Lake County, Salt Lake City and West Valley City are good ideas that should be studied for best practices and imitated elsewhere in the state.

For example, Salt Lake City now tracks GRAMA requests through a computer system, which helps the city be accountable to every requestor. More importantly, the city administration has made transparency a priority by instituting concrete directives that force change in bureaucratic culture.

In West Valley City, officials adopted a transparency standard that included, among other things, a pledge to continue to include text messages and other electronic communications in the definition of public records. The city pledged to keep the salaries and wages open to the public. It will also change campaign finance rules to remove candidates who don't meet disclosure deadlines.

Utah government's finance transparency website continues to add budgets, budget reports, audits and other useful information from local and state agencies at http://www.utah.gov/transparency.

In retrospect, transparency continued to grow in 2011 as a trend in Utah, nationally and internationally as a way for the public to monitor power and participate in democratic institutions. That's good news for everyone.

Joel Campbell is an associate professor of communications at Brigham Young University. His reporting does not necessarily reflect the views of BYU. He can be reached at foiguy@gmail.com.