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Wednesday, February 02, 2005

Ind. Law - Editorials laud Senator Gard's open meetings bill

This Evansville Courier& Press editorial from Monday, and this Muncie Star-Press editorial today strongly support Senator Bev Gard's SB 310. Says the StarPress:

Indiana residents who prefer their government be more open and accessible should be happy with a Senate bill that aims to do that. SB 310, authored by Sen. Beverly Gard, R-Greenfield, would make it less likely that local governing boards, councils and commissions could "divide" and hide pertinent discussion from the public, as many do now.

This current practice by too many school boards, city councils and other governing bodies employs a series of meetings - none of which includes a quorum of voting members - to plan and discuss projects while away from public's scrutiny. The result is that unwary citizens miss out on valuable discussion points and often learn of major policy decisions just before final votes are taken (once entire governing boards have assembled).

While these tactics aren't illegal, they certainly skirt the Indiana Open Door Law and trample its intent.

Gard's bill would do two things to control the practice:

1. Prohibit governing bodies of public agencies from conducting business through a series of meetings (while never allowing a quorum to be present) that close the door to effective public discussion.

2. Prohibit the same governing bodies from participating in public meetings by telephone or Internet connections unless the General Assembly has given specific permission. The bill does not prohibit individual conversations between two county commissioners or town board members. * * *

Gard's bill is scheduled for a hearing at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Senate Governmental Affairs and Interstate Cooperation Committee, room 130 in the Statehouse.

The CourierPress adds:
Officials who defend the practice say it does not violate the state open door law because a quorum is never present. To the contrary, we believe such meetings are a clear violation of the spirit and the letter of Indiana law.

Though the practice may have gone on for years, it is still a relatively new term in the jargon of Hoosier government, politics and journalism. According to the Courier & Press archives, it was not used in this newspaper until 2002. In that case, the Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corp. superintendent met with School Board members, no more than two at a time, to discuss a reorganization of the administration.

One of the more interesting instances of serial meetings involved the Indiana University board of trustees a few years ago. The board met at the Bloomington home of then-IU President Myles Brand and, to avoid a five-member quorum, had one member go into the kitchen while the other four discussed the budget in the living room. Hoosiers learned about that sneaky tactic in a lawsuit against the university. * * *

Senate Bill 310 would prohibit governing bodies from conducting business behind closed doors in a series of meetings, while never allowing a quorum to be present. That's as simple and clear as could be.

In addition, the bill would prohibit members of boards from participating in public meetings by telephone or Internet connection, unless allowed by the Indiana General Assembly. * * *

To make it clear to one and all that Indiana boards will not meet in secret - however ingenious the attempt to circumvent the law - this measure should pass.

[More] Add an Indianapolis Star editorial today to the list. It concludes: "SB 310 is needed to clarify the intent of the law and end the games public officials have been playing with public access."

Posted by Marcia Oddi on February 2, 2005 06:42 AM
Posted to Indiana Law