Freedom of Information Law

The emails and other documents provided by the Town of Riverhead on Jan. 24 in response to RiverheadLOCAL's Dec. 1 Freedom of Information Law request can be read by clicking on the document links.

If a factual report of the records obtained through a Freedom of Information Law request makes officials unhappy or uncomfortable, we’re sorry but our job as a news organization isn’t to protect their feelings. Our job is to report the facts.

Riverhead Supervisor Tim Hubbard on Friday announced changes being implemented to provide the public with more access to information related to Town Board meetings and work sessions.

Learn the ins and outs of open meetings and records access in New York in these two virtual sessions being offered by the New York State Committee on Open Government M

With no penalties for violations and no enforcement except by lawsuits in State Supreme Court brought by private citizens, it's no wonder officials often act like complying with these laws are optional. There is a better way, if N.Y. state lawmakers were serious about transparency.

An advocacy group is calling for reforms to state public information laws after their report found that several county boards of elections in New York, including Suffolk’s, displayed a lack of transparency in answering their requests for meeting information.

Riverhead needs an Open Data Policy that allows residents to access elected officials' financial disclosures online, free of charge. Guest column

By law, most government documents are public documents, accessible by the public, as they should be. Nevertheless, many government officials — especially the lawyers — behave as if national security is at stake and they work for the CIA. 

After nearly 20 years of local news reporting, I could fill a book with stories of government officials trying to prevent reporters — and hence, the public — from finding out what they’re up to.

Riverhead Town got a top score on a report card issued today by the Press Club of Long Island, following a 16-month audit of 195 county agencies, cities, towns and villages in Suffolk and Nassau. The Village of Greenport scored a 'C'.