The end of one year and the beginning of a new year often is a time when many people choose to make tax-deductible donations to organizations whose work they support.
We hope you believe the Iowa Freedom of Information Council’s work is important and deserves support.
In its 47 years of existence, the Council has become a recognized voice in Iowa on matters relating to open, accessible and transparent state and local government and First Amendment issues. The organization exists financially primarily on the dues paid by about 60 members and gifts made by numerous individuals and foundations each year.
You can show your support for the Council’s education and advocacy work and for our courtroom litigation by making a gift. You can do that by credit card or debit card by clicking the “Donate” button you will find at the top of our homepage at www.ifoic.org or by mailing a check to: Iowa FOI Council, P.O. Box 8002, Des Moines, IA 50301.
You also can lend us a hand by sharing this article with your friends.
With your help, we can step up our efforts to bring government entities into compliance with the state’s open meetings and open records laws.
In the past 12 months, we have achieved courtroom victories against Gov. Kim Reynolds for failing to act in a timely manner on requests for public records. We also have successfully sued the Bettendorf school board for failing to adhere to the requirements of the public meetings law when members gathered to listen to parents’ concerns about hallway violence at Bettendorf Middle School.
We also brought a lawsuit against the Centerville school board over its decision to go into closed session to discuss a severance agreement with a counselor who submitted his resignation days earlier following two months of investigation into allegations he had inappropriate contact with a female student. That lawsuit comes to trial starting January 10.
Show your FOI Council support
by wearing our special “Open Records” shirt
Our friends at RAYGUN, the purveyor of those snarky t-shirts you see around the Midwest, produced a special “Open Records Open Minds” shirt exclusively for the Iowa FOI Council a few years ago. We are clearing out our remaining stash of these shirts, and you can take advantage of this pre-spring-cleaning special offer.
The remaining shirts are available at a discounted price of $15, plus $5 for postage.
The shirts are not available at this price in RAYGUN stores or on the RAYGUN website. If you would like to wear your support for government transparency and the Iowa FOI Council, just send us an email with the quantity and the size(s) you want and we will get back to you and make arrangements for payment and shipping.
Our email is IowaFOICouncil [at] gmail.com.