March 12-18 is Sunshine Week, a national initiative focusing on the public’s right to know about government on all levels.
The initiative was launched by journalists in 2002 to promote open government and freedom of information by emphasizing laws that are to ensure the public has access to public records and that government business is conducted “in the light of day” rather than behind closed doors.
One would think government officials at every level would by now be accustomed to doing the public’s business in public, but many of them still do not. County and city councils, school boards and other government panels go behind closed doors so often these days that taxpayers have good reason to wonder why.
At a time when confidence in government is low, transparency is a key ingredient in changing that. Insisting upon it will not allows be easy for public officials, however.
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Legal counsel often advises government officials they can decline a request for information or meet in a closed session, stretching the provisions of open-government law and justifying secrecy as a necessity.
But as Brian J. Hunhoff, a South Dakota journalist who has written extensively about open and closed government, points out: Legality and necessity are two different things.
Consider the following list of Ten Commandments for Open Meetings as a plea to public officials to do the right thing by the people they represent:
ONE: Do not gather as a quorum outside of regular meetings, and do not hold special meetings without giving public notice at least 24 hours in advance.
TWO: Do not habitually add last-minute items to the agenda, and do not act on anything not listed on the posted agenda.
THREE: Do not abuse the litigation excuse for executive sessions to speculate about possible or imagined lawsuits.
FOUR: Do not stretch the personnel excuse for executive sessions to discuss policy issues. Example: Creating a new position or changing a department’s job descriptions are policy decisions and not appropriate topics for a closed meeting.
FIVE: Do not dial up the “negotiations” excuse to suddenly exclude the public from discussion of controversial issues that were previously aired thoroughly in open session.
SIX: Do not allow executive session conversations to stray to other topics.
SEVEN: Do not violate the spirit of the open meeting law with frequent phone, email or text dialogues with other members. Reach consensus at the meeting.
EIGHT: Do not make a habit of whispering or passing notes at meetings. You were elected to speak for us. Tell what you have to say out loud and proud.
NINE: Allow public input at every meeting. Include it on every agenda.
TEN: Be as transparent as possible. Do not hold executive sessions simply because counsel advised it is “legal” to do so. Ask yourself: “Is it absolutely critical we discuss this privately?”
