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A few words about freedom of information
A few weeks ago I wrote about the importance of open meetings laws as they provide citizens with a form of oversight on government actions. Otherwise known as “Sunshine Laws,” these rules try to guarantee that certain aspects of government will be open to the public, and like many in my field, I believe that more could be done to protect that right. The Easley administration has been under fire of late for violating these laws when members of his administration destroyed several public documents, including e-mails among public officials, which are included in the federal Freedom of Information Act. Gov. Easley has claimed that it was a misunderstanding of instructions that led to the incidents, while some media leaders and attorneys are holding his feet to the fire on the case. Bottom line, public documents will never see the light of day because of these actions. Passing the buck won't bring them back and only bolsters the public mistrust of government. In my most recent writing about the issue of open government, I posed a question to the various candidates vying for your votes this May and November. Much to my dismay, only two responded to the question “What is your philosophy of government openness? How important is it to American democracy?” A month has passed since I promised to print any responses. So, here they are: Response from Democratic County Commission Candidate Jerry Coffey: 1. No closed door meetings and no secrets that the people need to know. These systems are what has Caldwell County in the case we are in. Editor's note: The remainder of Mr. Coffey's response was not included as it did not pertain to his philosophy on open meetings. Response from Democratic County Commission Candidate L.C. Coonse: Democracy is a painful process, which depends on hearing the full range of dissenting opinions and perspectives. Although painful, it always results in better decisions than would have been made by one person or a small group of persons. The key to democracy is an informed, participating public. Government openness is the key to having that informed public. Media pressure at all levels helps to keep elected officials away from the temptation of comfortable closed session meetings where decisions are made out of the public view and without public controversy. While closed session meetings might make things easier for elected officials in the short run, they subvert democracy and result in decisions based on limited perspectives and personal agendas. Even if the results are good, honest decisions, the seeds of suspicion and mistrust are sown. Is it then a surprise that the probable outcome is public rejection of the decisions from which the public was excluded? The business of the public should be conducted in public. Thanks to Mr. Coonse and Mr. Coffey for responding. Edward Terry Editor eterry@newstopic.net
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