If government records could be as open as her smile, then Yvette Magruder would be a happy civil servant. FOI personnel at DoD might feel tortured by impatient requesters, but Magruder says her greatest reward is dealing with the public. The programs want to protect their information. I have to show them the strong arm of the law.
People are just protective of their work.
As executive secretariat for the decentralized FOI office at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Magruder both handles the FOIA requests coming into Washington and acts as liaison for the field offices. Recently, Magruder shepherded a request for a gentleman seeking historical information dating back to World War 11 that rightfully would have been destroyed by nearly anyone's standards. Refusing to accept that possibility, she shook down every HUD office and program officer she could think of and hit pay dirt three months later. She called the requester to give him the good news personally. I know I'm from the old school.