SOS requests also reminder of public duty

City, county and school district officials are saying repeated requests for public records related to the Stop Overspending Nebraska campaign amount to harassment.

Starting in September, Mike Groene of North Platte, chairman of the SOS group, began requesting all records and documents relating to computer, e-mail and Internet use policies and all electronic records that mention the Nebraska SOS campaign and petition gatherers.

The group successfully placed Initiative 423 on the November ballot, which if approved will limit state spending to the rate of inflation plus population growth.

The requests began being faxed on Labor Day, which some officials say was intended as a ploy to put county, school and city officials in violation of state law requiring them to reply within four days.

An Omaha World-Herald story quoted an official saying a good faith search of the records would cost at least $276,000 and Papillion $100,000.

The Sidney city manager, Gary Person, said it would be a good example of government waste, and the Papillion mayor said it would require 26 runs of backup computer tapes, plus careful editing out of personal information like Social Security numbers and medical records.

Public officials probably had a point when they called the SOS faxes "bizarre," difficult to read and easily confused with junk mail.

They're also an apparent sign of desperation, despite Groene's statement that the requests has nothing to do with the spending lid initiative and are only part of a national survey.

But they are a good reminder that government employees have no business using taxpayer time and resources to influence the political process.

They can use their own time and Internet connections for that.