Ballston Spa’s FOI debate gets at a problem I see often: agencies talk about records access as though the main issue is requester behavior, when the real issue is usually process. Volume is unpredictable. Capacity is limited. Training is uneven. When agencies are not set up to efficiently handle routine requests, legal review, delays, and frustration multiply. All of that is real. But FOI is still a right. It can’t be treated as abuse simply because compliance is inconvenient

Documentation is accountability. The fullest full stop. Every single one of us has been there: "I thought someone else was handling that." "I don't remember agreeing to that." "Nobody told me." "That's not what we decided." "We've always done it this way." “Does anyone remember…?” “I think maybe Mike was supposed to…” Without documentation, we're relying on memory, interpretation, assumptions, and whoever happens to be the most confident person in the room. We need a shared r