COLUMBIA, Mo. – Is there anything more basic than a citizen asking government about the expenditure of taxpayer money?

In an audit of eight Greene County municipalities, the Missouri Sunshine Coalition found that it was not always easy to obtain a copy of the local budget.

Officials in Battlefield, Ash Grove and Walnut Grove, for instance, asked a caller why they were seeking the information. Officials in Battlefield, Walnut Grove and Strafford required requesters to fill out a form before obtaining the budget, even though Missouri’s open-records act does not require written requests.

The Missouri Sunshine Coalition is a newly formed group dedicated to open government and freedom of information. It includes members from the League of Women Voters, the American Civil Liberties Union, the media and others.

"Transparency is good for government," Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster said at the coalition’s March kick-off, held in the Reynolds Journalism Institute at the University of Missouri School of Journalism.

Sunshine Coalition President Jim Robertson said, "The Sunshine Law prescribes unfettered access to documents like these. The coalition's mission includes helping the public and officeholders alike understand these responsibilities."

The coalition invites you to a June 25 informational meeting in Springfield. The event will include more detail about the open-records audit in Southeast Missouri and provide information about what similar coalitions are doing around the country. Refreshments will be served.

Details about the event are:
WHAT: Informational/membership-drive meeting of the Missouri Sunshine Coalition. The program will include a discussion of the coalition's recent open-records audit of local governments in southeast Missouri, a report from the national meeting of the Freedom of Information Coalition, remarks by a representative of the Missouri Attorney General's office, and a keynote address by Paul McMasters, one of the nation's leading experts on the First Amendment and access issues.

The meeting is open to the public. The coalition invites everyone who is interested in open government, from members of the media and officeholders to the general public, to attend and consider becoming involved in the Missouri Sunshine Coalition.

WHEN: 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. Thursday, June 25.
WHERE: Reed Auditorium, Trustee Science Center on the Drury University campus. The science center is on Drury Lane north of Chestnut Expressway. (A campus map is available at www.drury.edu/map/drurymap_bw.pdf)