Public Meeting 1

     I’m going to start off by saying the School Board Recognition meeting was nothing like the public meeting I attended last year about the budget. When I arrived to the meeting I learned I had to pay for meter parking which was a little frustrating because I only had 2 quarters and 5 dimes which got me roughly an hour and twelve minutes.

     I soon as I walked into the lobby I was consumed by a crowd. My initial thought was this is going to be a big mess with no order. I went into the room where the meeting was being held and notice that all of the chairs were reserved for guest receiving awards. I found this very inconvenient because I was forced to stand along with about 50 other patrons. It made me feel that even though this was a public meeting they did not accommodate everyone.

    I found a nice spot near the back in front of a flat screen T.V. where I was able to watch the meeting with better ease. School Board Chair Susan Valdez led the meeting and promptly started at 5:30.  The meeting started out by thanking everyone for coming and congratulating all of the kids for participating and attending.

     For someone, like me, who had to relation to these kids or to the topics it was not very exciting. However, it was nice to see young people being involved in academics and getting recognized by the School Board.

      While I was standing in the back taking notes, I couldn’t help but listen to the chatter of two men who were standing near me. They were cracking jokes about certain awards and not so much making fun of one of the kids but playing jawing about one of the winners. Ironically one of the guys started to leave and told the other guy he had to go up to get recognized for something. I found that quite comical that he was acting like a disgruntle parent who did want to be there but in reality he was there for the same reason the kids were.

     The public meeting was the same throughout the hour and twelve minutes I was there—they announced the award, the kids came up, parents took pictures and they moved on. 

      In the future I’m going to pick a public meeting that I think will be more interesting but all in all it was a good experience. 

Are you paying your taxes?

        I’m going to make the assumption that  most people my age are not too familiarly with property tax, assessed value, just value and all that jazz. Preston Trigg , Director of Administration and Special Projects, for the most part broke down what was important to know.

I never thought to check property tax for a public official until I heard Trigg say it is one of the first things to look for. If a public official is not paying their taxes and turning around and telling everyone else to it raises a red flag.

       I loved the fact he told us the “tricks of the trade”.  Some of the things Triggs mentioned were putting the request in writing for a personal record. However, he made sure to warn that once we submit a request in writing that too becomes public record and a competitor could find out what we are trying to request.  Also asking for the any costs up front is important. If you put a request in not knowing the cost you could be stuck with an expensive bill in the end.

       I’ll be honest after the presentation I promptly went home and looked up by parents and Doug Belden’s (my profile assignment) property tax.  I was a little disappointed to find that both of their taxes were in check. The fact that it was so easy to look up someone’s property tax amazed me. I just want to drive around and write down addresses just to check on them.

       Knowing about this particular public record can be very useful for future reporting.  Even though this record could be irrelevant in most cases involving Joe Schmo, I learned that anytime a story involves a public official or someone of importance it is vital to use this public record.

      Trigg’s presentation was very helpful to further my knowledge on public records and I am looking forward to future visits to learn more.

Locked Up RAW

          I often watch shows on MSNBC that have to do with prison. Shows like “lockup” go into various prison around the country and show what goes on inside. So naturally, my view on imprisonment was tainted. After going through security, walking through multiple doors and staying on the colored path we arrived in the control room of the Orient Jail. Not much went on in there although it was great to see.

         What really got me interested was seeing the “pod”, pretty much a large room with a bunch of cells. I’ll use the term cells loosely for this room because they weren’t solid steel bars and toilets like I’m use to seeing on T.V. They had wooden doors, bunk beds, wooden desks and what looked like comfortable porcelains.  I later learned that this type of pod is used for people either waiting for a court date or who have a “low-risk level”.  As I’m standing there surrounded by my peers, I couldn’t help but look around to the cells and see the inmates watching us.

         As I was standing there looking at these inmates behind their doors, I wondered what they were in for and what was going through their head.  I imagined myself behind the door and looking out and wondered what I would be thinking about….but I digress.

         Afterward walking through booking--where the inmates weren’t behind bars-- we headed to the records office. For the most part, I already knew from my previous visit what public records I can get.

         What I did learn was that all the video footage in the jail and the dui drunk tank is public record, as long as it’s not an open investigation.  One of the offices made sure to make a point of mentioning that video footage doesn’t always tell the whole story. It goes back to being a good reporter and getting every side of a story.

          All and All I’m glad I haven’t had to look at 40 college kids behind a wooden door and hopefully I never will. 

Sheriff's Office

Wow! Is all I have to say after visiting the Hillsborough Sheriff's Office. Listening to J.D. Callaway and Cristal Bermudez shed a new light on how I see public records. I already knew about being able to look up arrest inquiries (fellow classmates who went down the wrong path) but finding out about search and arrest warrants among other things astonished me. Of course I’ve been listening about how all of this is public record but being able to actually see a hard copy was great.                   

Another interesting point I heard was that Callaway and Bermudez have rapport with the beat reporters. If a reporter pisses them off and is always nagging they can choose to not deal with them or make it so that reporter is the last one to know. It’s like they have the news reporter by the throat and can either squeeze or let go. Even though technically they can’t refuse a reporter the Sunshine Laws they can request to deal with another reporter. Callaway made sure to mention that the Sheriff’s department often goes above and beyond what the Sunshine Laws require.

In my head I envisioned getting a public record would be a tedious process. After seeing the public records office and knowing I can just walk in there and ask to get a record made it seem so simple. I guess you could say I’m more of a visual person; I have to see it to believe it.

The most important document I received from the duo was their SOP (Standard Operating Procedure). The SOP lets reporters know what information they can and cannot get.  For a reporter right out of school this is a great tool. It gives great detail for specific scenarios where a news reporter may not know what they are allowed access too.

Over all I had a great time at the department and learned a lot more than I was expecting.

Technology

A decade ago using technology during an investigate piece would have been ahead of the time. Now it is an absolute essential to be tech savvy.  Like most of my generation, we grew up with technology and as the years go by it becomes more advanced.  Investigative reporter Matt Doig of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune discussed some of the importance in using technology such as excel.

                Combing through public records can be time consuming. Doig provided a great tip-LEARN HOW TO USE EXCEL.  He went on to discuss that for the most part public records are all electronic. Being able to plug that data into a computer program and having it sort through the data makes everyone have less of a headache.  

                The biggest example Doig provided with this technique was a housing fraud scam in Florida. When his investigative team received the public records of all the housing sales in Florida there was over 19 million transactions. By using excel they were able to input the data and set parameters to narrow the search down to 55,000 transactions.  One of the parameters they used were, the same house being sold within 90 days of the original transaction. Without excel and other computer programs that sort data, combing through those files would have taken a lot longer than it did.

                I’ve heard that an argument has three sides yours, theirs and the truth. By using databases with public records all you have is the truth. Being a well rounded reporter means using all of the resources available. Being an investigative reporter it is essential to use databases because the person you are investigating will not want to talk to you. If they do want to tell their side of the story that’s all it will be—their side. Use your access to public records and hopefully you’ll never be wrong.