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Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Ind. Gov't. - New serial meetings law is good, but just a start
That is the opinion of an editorial today about SEA 103 in the Evansville Courier & Press that concludes:
Credit goes to Sen. Beverley Gard, R-Greenwood, and Rep. Russ Stilwell, D-Boonville, for taking the leadership to get this legislation passed.That said, the legislation that was approved this session is filled with exceptions that merit discussion later.
Regardless, the new law will ban local government boards from meeting in groups of less than a quorum. Violations by those boards make their actions vulnerable to court challenge.
This is a needed step forward in the effort to make Indiana government open and accessible to the public, but it is far from the only concern for Indiana residents and taxpayers concerned about open government.
Indeed, what may be a steeper challenge is that of dealing with elected officials who convene in executive session for one purpose, only to allow the conversation in the closed-door meeting to drift into another topic.
The board members decide on that issue and then go through the charade of voting on it in the public meeting, just as they do after serial meetings.
The abuse of executive session is unlikely to change until the Legislature adds real teeth to the Indiana Open Door law, by imposing fines and civil damages against violators, and by giving the public access counselor some prosecutorial powers.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on May 2, 2007 08:35 AM
Posted to Indiana Government