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By Miriam Raftery
January 16, 2026 (San Diego) – CalAware Founder and open government champion Joseph Terrence “Terry” Francke died December 24 with his wife, Carolyn “Muffy” Francke at his side. As cofounder and long-time general counsel of Californians Aware (CalAware), Francke fought for the rights of the public and press to access information, court actions and public meetings of government bodies.His legal advice led to numerous reforms across California, including interventions that led to improved public access at boards and agencies in San Diego and East County.
He also served as general counsel to the First Amendment Coalition and as legal counsel for the California Newspaper Publishers Association, as well as a newspaper editor, school district information officer, and public affairs officer for the U.S. Marines.
JW August, a past CalAware president, former investigative producer for NBC 7and senior producer for the investigative team at ABC 10 News, praises Francke as a “warrior for the First Amendment,” as well as a friend and mentor who helped “smaller publications and bigger ones that may have run into a legal wall...Any reporter, any editor, any citizen could call him and get experienced help.”
In 2017, Francke was honored with a Sunshine Award from the Society of Professional Journalists’ San Diego chapter, as ECM reported. Accepting the award, Francke recalled how times have changed since he first became involved in advocating for open government back in the 1980s. View a video with excerpts of his remarks.
Photo, left: Terry Francke accepts Sunshine Award from the Society for Professional Journalists, presented by Donna Frye, Director of Open Government for the City of San Diego
His early efforts led to opening up access to the courts. Since then, he reflected, “The word transparency has taken on a currency which was simply not in the vocabulary back then.” Today, transparency has become a buzz word coveted by private, public, commercial and governmental institutions, said Francke. Now there is “an entire generation” that not only expects access to public records, but wants to see records easily searchable.
“Terry Francke was a champion who fought to protect the press and public’s access to government information,” East County Magazine editor Miriam Raftery said. “He filed lawsuits against public entities including San Diego County to enforce open government laws. His advice over the years to East County Magazine was extremely valuable, often resulting in public boards reversing illegal actions and improving public access.”
For example, in response to ECM’s inquiries:
- Francke’s legal warning led Cajon Valley Union High School District to stop destroying recordings of public meetings and vote to retain recordings for a year.
- Helix Water District allowed all board members to participate in choosing a general manager, after Francke advised that the board’s earlier action to exclude a member was illegal.
- San Miguel Fire District’s board opened its finance committee meetings to the public after Francke advised that the committee’s closed sessions violated California’s open government laws.
- Grossmont Healthcare District sought applications from the public to fill a board vacancy, after Francke advised that the board had held an illegal closed-door meeting to reseat a member who resigned, then rescinded his resignation.
- Francke affirmed the right of ECM’s freelance photographers to take photos and videos of possible Native American artifacts found during construction of SDG&E’s Sunrise Powerlink.
- Grossmont Union High School District board acted illegally in banning a trustee from speaking to an oversight committee, Francke found.
- El Cajon Councilman Ben Kalasho’s threats to sue media outlets, including ECM, for truthful reporting on his business, political, legal and ethical controversies amounted to an illegal abuse of power, advised Francke, who advised that any such suit should be dismissed by a court.
- Francke advised ECM that Congressman Darrell Issa’s ban on citizens recording his town hall meeting in 2017 was unconstitutional. Issa has since refused to hold town halls.
Born in Modesto on September 15, 1944, Francke led a life marked by intellectual curiosity, public service, and a deep belief in civic accountability. He considered entering the seminary and graduated from the University of Notre Dame, where he discovered talents in communication skills. He served in the Marines from 1968-70, attaining the rank of sergeant. Stationed at Camp Pendleton in Oceanside, he served as a broadcast information specialist. In April 1970, he married Caroyn (Jaskunas) Francke.
He later served as information officer for the Modesto City School District, before purchasing the Ceres Courier newspaper in Ceres, California, along with his wife and another couple. His experience in local journalism launched his lifelong commitment to public information, transparency and engagement.
He obtained a Juris Doctorate degree from McGeorge School of law in 1979, then served as general counsel for the California News Publishers Association, where he became one of California’s top authorities on open meeting and public records laws. He helped shape and strengthen interpretation and enforcement of the Brown Act in the early 1990s.
Francke served as executive director and general counsel for the First Amendment Coalition for 14 years, working to advance public understanding and enforcement of open government laws statewide. One of his most significant achievements was passage of Proposition 59 in 2004, which enshrined in the California Constitution the public’s right to access government records and meetings.
He was the principal author of San Francisco’s Sunshine Ordinance, which became a model adopted by many other cities in California, broadening public access to local government decision making.
He later co-founded CalAware and served as its general counsel for many years, continuing his mission to educate journalists, public officials, and residents about open government law.
He authored legal guides including The CalAware Guide to Open Meetings in California and was widely regarded as the state’s foremost expert on open meeting law and access to public information. Sadly, CalAware has since dissolved after Francke suffered a stroke and had to step down several years ago, creating a gap that no other attorney has been able to fill, as well as a huge loss for journalists and the public.
His personal passions were reading and gardening, pursuits that reflected his love of quiet thought, patience and steady cultivation of ideas as well as plants. He is survived by his wife Carolyn, his son Andrew Francke, his daughter Emily, and three grandsons: Sebastion, Leonardo, and Antonio Francke.
The family asks that Terry Francke be honored through donations to the American Civil Liberties Union at https://www.aclu.org/give/ways-to-give.
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