Date 08/27/03
Contact:
Stacey Bragalone, (214) 977-6658
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LAST
DAYS to REGISTER for the FOI State Conference
Openness
and Accountability : Celebrating
30 Years of Open Government , the
Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas' 2003 Bernard and
Audre Rapoport FOI State Conference, will be held Friday and
Saturday, Sept. 5-6, at the InterContinental Stephen F. Austin
Hotel in Austin, Texas.
Who's
the Client?: Holding Public Officials Accountable to FOI Laws,
Friday's opening panel, will feature
Former Sen. Don Adams; Gregg Cox, head of the Public Integrity
Unit for the Travis County DA's Office; Marcus Norris, Amarillo
city attorney; and Leon Smith, mayor, Clifton, Texas and publisher,
The Clifton Record . Cathy
Martindale, editor, Morris Communications Company, will moderate
the panel discussion on ethics and access to public information.
Evolution
of Open Government: Pros and Cons of Association Membership
will examine government's relationship
with governmental associations. Fred Zipp, Managing Editor,
Austin American-Statesman ,
will moderate the session. Panelists will include Gary Boren,
Lubbock city councilman; Jennifer Johnson, attorney, Graves,
Dougherty, Hearon & Moody, P.C.; Karen Randolph, staff
attorney, Texas Association of School Boards; and Frank Sturzl,
executive director, Texas Municipal League.
Progress
and Regress: Legislative Update on FOI in Texas
will be Friday's concluding panel. Ann Arnold, executive director,
Texas Association of Broadcasters and Donnis Baggett, FOI
committee chair, Texas Daily Newspaper Association, will examine
the 2003 legislative session. Wanda Garner Cash, editor and
publisher, The Baytown Sun ,
will moderate. Schedule providing, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst
has been invited to join in the discussion.
Friday's
activities also include the John Henry Faulk Awards Luncheon
featuring the James Madison Awards. This year's recipients
are Katherine (Missy) Minter Cary, assistant attorney general,
chief of the Open Records Division, Office of the Attorney
General, and Vanessa E. Curry, journalism lecturer and Patriot
advisor, The University of Texas
at Tyler. Both women are being honored for their contribution
to the preservation of the First Amendment and open government.
Saturday's
Responsible Rights: Government in the Sunshine ,
moderated by Tom Williams, attorney, Haynes and Boone, L.L.P.
will include, Cary; Hadassah Schloss, open records administrator,
Texas Building and Procurement Commission; and Joel White,
attorney, Ogden, Gibson, White, Broocks & Longoria, L.L.P.
This seminar offers attendees the opportunity to deepen their
understanding of the rights and responsibilities of open government
as dictated by the Texas Public Information and Texas Open
Meeting Acts.
Attorney General Greg Abbott will speak on current public
information topics and entertain questions from the audience
at Saturday's luncheon, which concludes the conference activities.
The three registration packages, with early registration rates
extended through Sept. 4, are as follows: Package #1, $150,
includes all conference events, Sept. 5 and 6; Package #2,
$100, includes all panels on Sept. 5 and the awards luncheon;
and Package #3, $60, includes the open government seminar
and lunch with General Abbott on Sept. 6. Prices at the door
will increase to $180 for Package #1, $125 for Package #2,
and $75 for Package #3. Students may audit the conference
for free, but the cost of meals will be assessed. To register,
call the FOIFT office at (214) 977-6658 or visit our web site,
www.foift.org. Hotel accommodations can be made by contacting
the InterContinental Stephen F. Austin Hotel at (512) 457-8800.
The Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas is a nonprofit
501(c)(3) organization supported through grants from private
citizens, corporations, foundations and tax-deductible donations.
For more information, call (214) 977-6658, or visit our web
site, www.foift.org.
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