Public officials who shave the corners on the state's Open Meetings and Open Records acts undermine the trust of those they claim to serve.
The latest example came recently when Canadian County Commissioners held a meeting in Yukon to discuss the future of the jail. Originally, the meeting was supposed to be between Yukon City Manager Jim Crosby, who serves as chairman of the county's jail committee, District 1 Commissioner Phil Carson and Oklahoma Jail Inspector Don Garrison. That meeting was delayed because of bad weather, leading to the meeting being rescheduled.
Those present at the rescheduled gathering included Carson and Crosby, as well as four of the five other committee members. Garrison, Sheriff Randall Edwards and his jail administrators, County Clerk Shelley Dickerson and District 2 Commissioner David Anderson were also in attendance. Anderson's presence constituted a quorum of commissioners.
The state's Open Meetings Act requires that a meeting by the majority of a public body, which gathers for the purpose of conducting business, be open to the public and an agenda posted. The law goes on to state that any such gathering, considered a special meeting, must be posted publicly 48 hours before it is scheduled. Officials did not post notice of the meeting.
Shortly before the meeting, area reporters were notified of the gathering, and county officials tried to slink around the requirements of state law by saying Crosby had called the meeting. It was clear county officials were presenting the plan to him, and that county business was being conducted. To claim otherwise is a disservice to common sense.
Unfortunately, the cutting of corners by public bodies of such Sunshine Laws in our county is all too common. Routinely, executive sessions are abused as are gatherings of quorums of officials at locations beyond the view of the public or in e-mail roundtable discussions. Too often, one can attend the meeting of a public body and find that even controversial topics draw few public officials' comments, giving one the sense that decisions have already been arrived at in rooms with shades drawn.
We believe this way of doing business has been allowed to flourish because of both public apathy and by a district attorney's office that fails to take a hard line against these betrayals of the public trust. Their lack of action reinforces the notion that government bodies are deaf to rights and needs of the people.
Public officials would be well served to remember that they are not elected to be parents of the taxpayers. They are elected to serve the people, and when they fail to take that commitment to heart, they betray the voters.