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[Note: This material is copyright by The Gazette, and is reproduced here as a matter of "fair use" for non-commercial, educational purposes only. Any other use may require the prior approval of The Gazette.]

  State Citizens’ Aide/ Ombudsman William Angrick attributed the increase in complaints from 259 to 280 to ‘‘more vigilant citizenry,’’ media coverage of public bodies, sunshine advisories from the Iowa Attorney General’s Office and people being more aware of their rights.

  However, a significant factor, he told the Legislature’s Government Oversight Committee at a hearing Thursday, has to do with ‘‘savvy public administrators and elected officials finding ways to bend the law — sometimes legally, sometimes not — to make access unavailable.’’

  He cited ‘‘ walking quorums’’ — where all the members of a public body participate in a meeting but aren’t in the same room at the same time — as a frequent technique used to avoid public discussions.

  He endorsed a proposal by Rep. Vicki Lensing, D-Iowa City, to establish a privacy commission to help establish guidelines on what information about citizens should be public. His concern is not only Social Security numbers, but retinal scans and DNA information that might be part of some otherwise public records.

  While it makes sense for city and county assessors to have floor plans of private homes for comparison purposes, Angrick said the privacy commission might discuss whether the floor plans should be available to the public.

  ‘‘Does everyone need to know where my back door is?’’ he asked.

  The commission could help public agencies determine what information should be collected, whether it would be available to the public and if it is, how should it be available.

  ‘‘It’s a balancing act and I think the proper place to balance it is at the Legislature,’’ Angrick said.

  Later Thursday, University of Iowa law school professor Arthur Bonfield, one of the authors of the state openmeetings and open- records laws, urged lawmakers to undertake a more comprehensive review of the laws.

  A ‘‘Band-Aid’’ approach to simply curing a few problems ‘‘would be an unwise approach,’’ he told the House State Government Committee. The laws have been amended in piecemeal fashion over the past 25 years and a ‘‘serious and comprehensive reconsideration is long overdue,’’ Bonfield said. He then proceeded to describe 20 problems with the laws — ‘‘a very partial and incomplete list,’’ Bonfield said. In several cases, he explained, there are inconsistencies between the open meetings and open records laws that leave Iowans ‘‘justly bewildered.’’

  Although there may be some disagreement as to which issues are truly problems, Bonfield said, ‘‘ you should realize that others see them as either technical, practical or policy deficiencies.’’