The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 98, No. 27, Ed. 1 Wednesday, December 2, 2009 Page: 6 of 8
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Page 6
Opinion
December 2,2009
EDITORIAL
Local government should remain open
Hushed voices. Furtive
glances. Covert meet-
ings. Secrecy might be
appropriate for an Or-
wellian novel, but there
is no place for it in city
government - at least ac-
cording to Texas law.
During an Abilene
City Council meeting
Nov. 18, council mem-
bers discussed joining
15 other Texas cities in
a lawsuit that challenges
the Texas Open Meetings
Act. The council even-
tually decided to table
the issue, choosing not
to vote either way until
new information arises.
Abilene city attorney
QUICK FACTS
The Texas Open Meetings Act regulates certain types of speech by city
council members. Below is a summary of key portions of the law^
■ The law prohibits a quorum, or majority, of council members from
meeting behind closed doors. This includes physical meeting?,
e-mail correspondence or phone conversations.
■ Council members may talk about litigation in executive session
behind closed doors, but any final action must take place in public.
■ The law requires councils to post an agenda 72 hours prior to the
next meeting.
■ Punishment for breaking the law includes a fine of $100-$500
and/or one to six months in county jail.
Source: www.oag.state.tx.us
Daniel Santee said the
law - and the lawsuit -
boils down to the First
Amendment.
The controversy be-
gan in 2004, when Alpine
City Council members
were indicted for break-
ing the open meetings
law by sending e-mails to
each other about a pend-
ing issue. Though the
case was dismissed, they
filed a lawsuit - which
other cities have joined -
claiming the law violates
the free speech rights of
elected officials and the
potential punishments
are too great.
The council mem-
bers argued the actions
taken against them, in-
fringed on their First
Amendment rights to
free speech; however,
the members gave up
those rights when they
were elected as public
officials.
The Open Meetings
Act keeps the public in-
formed and holds the
government account-
able, something all citi-
zens, including students,
should desire. Elected
officials have a respon-
sibility to conduct pub-
lic business in an open
forum where voters can
observe and comment.
Openness fosters trust
and, more importantly,
furthers democracy.
The council also ar-
gued the potential severi-
ty of the punishment was
too great. However, if
punishment didn’t exist,
people wouldn’t follow
the rules. With a stricter
punishment comes a
greater effort to follow
the rules, and it indicates
how seriously we take
open government.
In Abilene, Santee
said, the council isn’t
worried about the law
because it isn’t breaking
it - and hasn’t in the 30
years since the act took
effect. For Abilene coun-
cil members, public trust
in government is worth
the risk of jail time, a
fact the cities involved
in the lawsuit seem to be
ignoring.
Besides, making good
decisions is easier when
several thousand people
are watching.
Email the Optimist at:
optimist@jmcnetwork.com
Ataraxla
By Jordan Blakey
T
LUNCH WITH THE CITY COUNCIL
ok sodko else thought
-phrls neuhaizcui n\ake%
hit* look like a turtle?
■paw on THE ohounD,
I Cora UPT POLITIC lAM.'l/
he.he.Vr.
COLUMN
Absolute openness causes chaos
Hettich
Bread with Tomato
Colter Hettich
Our nation’s founders
understood only a rela-
tively small group of
people can communi-
cate and
evaluate
ideas to
success-
fully
make an
informed
decision.
We elect
individu-
als to represent us in
Congress and city coun- ■
cils, so the majority
of taxpayers’ opinions
should be represented.
Most would agree
these representatives
are obligated to be hon-
est and transparent with
their constituents unless
it involves matters of na-
tional security. The prob-
lem is most disagree on
the definition of a “na-
tional security issue.”
National security ex-
tends far beyond pro-
tection from invasion
and acts of terrorism.
The security of our na-
tion depends on peace
at home as much as, if
not more than, peace
abroad. The working
American literally can-
not afford to know ev-
ery detail of every deci-
sion being made across
the nation.
If a teenager’s request
for $100 is denied, his
parents can not possibly
explain every aspect of
their financial situation
in a way the teenager
could grasp. They might
say, “We have bills to pay,
food to buy and we do
not have $100 to spare,”
but anything beyond that
would only cause unnec-
essary confusion.
Imagine if you ran a
major corporation and
had to explain every
decision you made, de-
scribing all your options
and thought processes.
You would quickly be
rendered ineffective as a
leader. But more impor-
tantly, how would you
maintain order in your
office if every employee
had the right to demand
explanations from you
and other executives at
any moment? It would
result in chaos.
American taxpayers
have a limited right to
know where their mon-
ey is going, and truth
be told, seem to be con-
cerned only when things
The working American literally
cannot afford to know every
detail of every decision being
made across the nation.
are not going well. If you
were living comfortably,
working a'secure job,
saving for retirement
and paying the bills, how
desperate would you be
to know exactly how the
government spends your
tax dollars?
It is the reason the En-
ron Corporation and Ber-
nie Madoff were able to
scam investors and em-
ployees out of billions of
dollars. Everybody was
making money; every-
thing was great. Nobody
asked questions.
At the city level,
there are few issues
that affect city secu-
rity, so citizens can de-
mand almost complete
transparency from their
council members.
The problem with
American government
is not the system. What
better way is there?
Every year we have
the opportunity to re-
place corrupt officials
with ones we think will
better serve us. Any
form of government re-
quires the population
to give decision-making
power to one or a few
individuals. At least we
have the opportunity
to choose ours, even
though voter turnout is
embarrassingly low in
any race other than the
presidential election.
If your current gov-
ernment leaders are
not trustworthy, either
vote them out or run
for public office your-
self. If Americans were
as involved as our fore-
fathers wanted us to be,
government openness
would not be an issue.
contact Hettich at
clh05d@acu.edu
COLUMN
Transparency key
to building trust
Hackney
Hacked Off
Chelsea Hackney
Picture Capitol Hill without
people. Not a tourist or lob-
byist in sight. A sign on the
door of the Capitol Build-
ing reads,
“Govern-
m e n ,t
closed un-
til further
notice.”
Except
unlike
the 1995
shut-
down, Congress hasn’t
gone home. Representa-
tives are still proposing,
debating and passing leg-
islation - legislation the
public has never heard
of, much less discussed.
Taxes hike and drop,
soldiers are deployed
and brought home,
roads are built, build-
ings are demolished,
treaties are signed, and
average citizens notice
only when they see it on
their bill.
If that doesn’t sound
like democracy to you,
you’re in luck. It’s not.
Edmund Burke, a rep-
resentative in the British
House of Commons in
the 1700s, articulated a
trustee theory of repre-
sentation. In this model,
citizens “entrust” their
representatives with the
power to act for the com-
mon good without con-
stantly checking in with
their constituents.
This model allows
representatives to make
decisions based on con-
science and common
sense - something most
people would agree
isn’t used often enough.
What it does not do is
shield government from
public scrutiny.
Openness in govern-
ment at all levels is a
hallmark of democracy.
Granted, some infor-
mation must be confi-
dential, whether for na-
tional security reasons
or simply to ensure rep-
resentatives can make
good decisions without
fear of a backlash from
their constituents. And
if voters distrust their
representatives, they
can always choose not
to elect those people the
next time around.
But voting some-
one out of office after
they’ve cheated or lied
or committed adultery
or stolen a dollar from
the Coke machine might
Similar to a
presumption of
innocence in
criminal cases,
there should be
a presumption of
openness in
government.
make us feel better, but
the damage is done. Vot-
ers need to be informed
before the fact, so they
can make, well, informed
decisions and contrib-
ute to an informed dis-
cussion about issues in
which they have a stake.
That adds up to most
everything in a country
with a government com-
posed of the people - at
least in theory.
Similar to a presump-
tion of innocence in
criminal cases, there
should be a presumption
of openness in govern-
ment. Unless the state
has a compelling inter-
est in keeping informa-
tion from the general
public, it shouldn’t.
contact Hackney at
ceh05c@acu.edu
Editorial and Letter Policy
Unsigned editorials are the opinions
of the Optimist and may not necessarily
reflect the views of the university or its
administration.
Signed columns, cartoons and letters are
the opinions of their creators and may
not necessarily reflect the viewpoints of
the Optimist or the university.
The Optimist encourages reader
response through letters to the editor
but reserves the right to limit frequent
contributors or to refuse to print letters
containing personal attacks, obscenity,
defamation, erroneous information or
invasion of privacy.
Please limit letters to 350 words or
fewer. A name and phone number must
be included for verification purposes.
Phone numbers will not be published.
Address letters to: ACU Box 27892
Abilene, TX 79699
E-mail letters to: opVmist@acu.edu
Optimist
Published by the
Department of Journalism
and Mass Communication
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Editor in Chief
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The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 98, No. 27, Ed. 1 Wednesday, December 2, 2009, newspaper, December 2, 2009; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth903839/m1/6/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Abilene Christian University Library.