Good reasons, bad reasons, but no reasoning at all.

Yesterday I had a call from a journalist seeking to access a resume for an employee of a public
governmental body, someone who had just been hired. Unfortunately, I had to tell the journalist
that such documents are individually identifiable personnel records under Section 610.021
(13). As such, they can be closed records.

But that exception makes no sense in the world. Why would the law allow an employee of a
public body to keep confidential the places he or she formerly worked? The employer has that
information. It’s not in any way a secret because everyone who formerly worked with the
employee knows that he or she formerly worked there. The public, it seems to me, has a right to
know whether someone who is hired for a job has the qualifications necessary to hold that job
and to earn the salary he or she is being paid (which, incidentally, IS a public record).

About the only reason to keep such information confidential is to cover up the fact that someone
has just hired a close personal friend who is NOT qualified for the job. And that’s hardly a
GOOD reason. Just one more example of a portion of the law that needs changing.