As part of the visit, she had asked to meet with the members of
the Moffat County Board of County Commissioners to get their input on
the program. However, she wanted to get frank and honest discussion from
the commissioners, so her staff told the press they were not welcome at
the event. Twice, the second time coming after a reporter notified her
staff of the law. In doing so, she forced the commissioners to break the
law.
The Colorado Sunshine Law requires elected bodies to conduct their business -- such as hearing about federal programs -- in public, with very specific exceptions. Creating an environment for a frank and honest discussion with a federal cabinet-level official certainly is not one of them.
In a letter to the newspaper in Moffat County, the Craig Daily Press, the director of communications for Secretary Jewell apologizes for "a breakdown in communications" regarding "the parameters of the meeting." There was no breakdown. The parameters set forth by the secretary were for it to be illegally closed.
Unfortunately, it is not the Interior secretary who broke the law, however. It was the county commissioners. They are the ones bound by statute to conduct their business in public, and they failed to do so.
Elected officials throughout the state must be aware of the laws regarding their required transparency. If they are being told a federal official will not meet with them unless it's private, their choice is clear: they must avoid the meeting.
It's unfortunate the public was denied observation of important public policy issues. It's more unfortunate that it was their federal government who had the hand that pulled the curtain on the window of transparency.
Reporter-Herald
The Colorado Sunshine Law requires elected bodies to conduct their business -- such as hearing about federal programs -- in public, with very specific exceptions. Creating an environment for a frank and honest discussion with a federal cabinet-level official certainly is not one of them.
In a letter to the newspaper in Moffat County, the Craig Daily Press, the director of communications for Secretary Jewell apologizes for "a breakdown in communications" regarding "the parameters of the meeting." There was no breakdown. The parameters set forth by the secretary were for it to be illegally closed.
Unfortunately, it is not the Interior secretary who broke the law, however. It was the county commissioners. They are the ones bound by statute to conduct their business in public, and they failed to do so.
Elected officials throughout the state must be aware of the laws regarding their required transparency. If they are being told a federal official will not meet with them unless it's private, their choice is clear: they must avoid the meeting.
It's unfortunate the public was denied observation of important public policy issues. It's more unfortunate that it was their federal government who had the hand that pulled the curtain on the window of transparency.
Reporter-Herald
No comments:
Post a Comment