What's New in Open Government...

A continuing series linking to reports and stories about open government issues around Massachusetts. The following are stories about open government issues that appeared during the second half of October:

$165K claim is paid by town
(Oct. 17, 2008, Worcester Telegram and Gazette, Aaron Nicodemus)
This story was possible because the T& G made a public records request and obtained a copy of the settlement agreement in a sexual harassment case despite an agreement containing a nondisclosure clause.

Zoning Board Member Adds to Controversy
(Oct. 20, 2008, SouthCoastToday.com, Joe Cohen)
After four ZBA members who rejected the Victoria Riverview project with little discussion, New Bedford Economic Development Council President Anthony R. Sapienza formally requested Bristol County District Attorney Sam Sutter conduct an investigation of whether the Massachusetts Open Meeting Law had been violated.

Lawrence School Committee Member
(Oct. 20, 2008, The Eagle-Tribune, Mark E. Vogler)
In this story, the Lawrence School Superintendent reportedly told a school committee member that he would no longer receive written answers or copies of public records in response to his written requests for information. Instead, the member will have to schedule a meeting with the School Superintendent to discuss any questions in person.

DA: Selectmen violated Open Meeting Law
(Oct. 21, 2008, Milford Daily News, Danielle Ameden)
The Worcester County District Attorney’s office determined that the Milford Board of Selectmen violated the Massachusetts Open Meeting Law when it met with a developer in executive session. The newspaper had filed the complaint with the DA’s office.

Public Records Should Be Public
(Oct. 22, 2008, The Boston Globe, Coleman Herman)
Op-ed piece about report the author wrote for Commonwealth Magazine which can be found here.

A Need for Transperancy Brings Me Back to the Air Waves
(Oct. 22, 2008, The Pioneer Institute Blog, Liam Day)
Liam Day of the Pioneer Institute public policy research group weighs writes in favor of openness in government, particularly at the Boston Redevelpment Authority.

Charlton Notebook
(Oct. 24, 2008 Worcester Telegram and Gazette, Debbie LaPlaca)
About 50 members of 36 town boards, committees and departments recently attended workshops on the state Open Meeting and Conflict of Interest laws at the town hall.

Party World Space to Become Offices
(Oct. 24, 2008, The Republican, Frank Contrada)
Northampton Planning Board receives training in the Open Meeting Law and other topics. The Board receives a discount from its insurer because the training reduces the risk of lawsuits.

James Vittorioso: Sunshine Troublemaker of the Week
(Oct. 24, 2008, State Sunshine and Open Records Blog)
More on the Lawrence School Committee situation.

Keeping local government doors open
(Oct. 26, 2008, MetroWest Daily News, Editorial)
Editorial about Open Meeting Law violations by the Milford Select Board and the Milford Finance Committee Appointing Committee.

Paving contract nixed in Medway
(Oct. 26, 2008, The Milford Daily News, Aaron Wasserman)
Can also be found posted here. The following quote says it all:

“I think what's important here is what we're all trying to do is gather information to make a decision on what we could do," said Selectman Andrew Espinosa. He added he is "sick and tired of being accused of violating (the) Open Meeting Law because I have conversations to gather information to make the right decision for the town. You know what? I'm going to continue to do that."

A Call for a Public Access Task Force
(Oct. 27, 2008, Media Law Blog, Robert J. Ambrogi)
Blog post by the ever vigilant Robert J. Ambrogi, who is a lawyer and the executive director of the Massachusetts Newspaper Publishers Association. He is on to something, especially as to whether it makes sense to continue to have the public records law and the open meeting law as two separate pieces of legislation with two separate means of enforcement.

Lodge: Patrick locks out the public
(Oct. 31, 2008, Metrowest Daily News, Richard K. Lodge)
This is an op-ed piece about the Governor’s meetings behind closed doors with public officials in Salem, New Bedford, Fall River, Quincy, and now Framingham.

Wilkerson fallout: What about the Open Meeting Law?
(Oct. 30, 2008, Universal Hub blog, Adam Gaffin)
A blog post pointing out the Open Meeting Law implications of the Dianne Wilkerson scandal. The page also links to an interesting post by Robert Ambrogi, who points out the irony of Wilkerson’s support for strengthening the Open Meeting Law.

For more stories and commentary, check out the blog at the New England First Amendment Center, a joint project by the New England First Amendment Coalition and Northeastern University.

Circumventing Open Government in Salem

According to the Salem News, Governor Patrick met in a closed meeting with the Salem Mayor, members of the Salem City Council and School Committee, and other municipal officers on Wednesday. The purpose of the meeting was for the Governor to hear the concerns of the local officials and to discuss the Governor’s proposed budget cuts and the future outlook. Similar meetings were held in Fall River, New Bedford, and Quincy. Apparently, the Governor only invited a minority of the Council and the School Committee to the meeting in an attempt to avoid having to comply with the Open Meeting Law.

This story is troubling. First, it appears that the Governor or his staff thought about the Open Meeting Law because they made an attempt to circumvent it by only inviting a minority of each elected board. In other words, this was not simply an example of a government official being clueless; it is an example of a government official wanting to keep the public in the dark. Second, it appears from the editorial that a majority of the City Council attended anyway. So, even if only inviting a minority of the Council was a legitimate way to circumvent the Open Meeting Law, it failed in its implementation. Finally, even if only a minority of the Council members attended the meeting, unless they were instructed not to communicate in any way to the absent members about what took place at the meeting and they complied with this instruction, this situation is not any different from the situation in which council members engage in serial phone calls or meetings to discuss a topic that will come before them. And we know how that turned out for the Boston City Council.

Hopefully, the Salem News will pursue this issue.

{Cross-posted at the Massachusetts Campaign for Open Government Blog.)

Harvard School Committee Completely In the Dark

What happened in Harvard, Massachusetts, recently is a perfect illustration of problems with the Open Meeting Law’s effectiveness and the failure of some public official to grasp the importance of open government principles. According to Gayle Simone, a reporter with Nashoba Publishing, the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office found that the Harvard School Committee blatantly violated the Massachusetts Open Meeting Law when it excluded the public from a significant portion of its evaluation of the school superintendent and kept no written records of its private interviews. The DA ordered the School Committee to conduct the evaluation process in open session in the future. As if the blatant violation was not enough, apparently the School Committee chair, Stuart Sklar, did not tell the other Committee members about the investigation until after receiving the DA’s decision. So, not only was the public’s right to know violated by the School Committee’s initial actions, the Committee members right to know was violated by the Chair’s actions. Now they know how we all feel when we are denied access to information to which we are entitled.

The real kicker, however, comes at the very end of the story. Chair Sklar reportedly said “that in speaking to the school department’s legal counsel, he believes the Open Meeting Law varies from county to county. ‘We should have state guidelines, not county for county,’ he said.” Someone should tell the man we already have a state Open Meeting Law and regulations that apply to every community. It is the statute that the Harvard School Committee violated. Obviously, the Harvard School Committee needs Open Meeting Law training as soon as possible. It’s too bad the DA’s Office could not order that.

What's New In Open Government...

A continuing series linking to reports about open government issues around Massachusetts. The following are stories about open government issues that appeared during the first half of October 2008:

Police Board Not Bound By Meeting Law
(October 1, 2008, Media Law Blog, Robert Ambrogi)
Attorney Robert Ambrogi’s blog entry on the Hampden County DA’s ruling that a board set up by the Springfield Mayor to review citizen complaints against the police department was not subject to the Massachusetts Open Meeting Law. The post links to a story in the Springfield Republican about the ruling. As Robert Ambrogi states,

This outcome nevertheless begs the question: Why not comply with the open meeting law? In other words, even though a committee is not required to follow the law, it is clearly permitted to do so. If the function of this board is to build citizen confidence in the Springfield police department, then shouldn't the board conduct its business in public view? The answer seems easy to me.

Inpunity Restraint Subdue Award
(October 2, 2008, Urban Compass website, Heather Brandon)
Another piece on the Springfield Community Complaint Review Board (“CCRB”), this one is written by Heather Brandon who maintains the Urban Compass website. It includes the text of a proposed ordinance which will subject the CCRB to the Open Meeting Law.

Dean Scolds Adams Board Over Open Meeting Law
October 2, 2008, North Adams Transcript, Ryan Hutton
A member of the Adams Board of Selectmen chastised other members for not attending Open Meeting Law training. Apparently, the Adams Board has run into some problems with the Open Meeting Law relating to the departure of the Town Administrator. According to the article, they also have some difficulties understanding the Pubic Records Law.

DA's Office Mulling Milford Open Meeting Law Complaint
(October 2, 2008, Milford Daily News, Danielle Ameden)
More on the complaint filed with the Worcester County DA’s office against the Milford Board of Selectmen, alleging a violation of the Open Meeting Law.

Violated Open Meeting Law/Who's Next?
(October 3, 2008, Milford Daily News, Aaron Wasserman)
Article about the Norfolk District Attorney's office ruling that Milford town officials violated the state's Open Meeting Law when appointing a new Finance Committee this past summer. Apparently the violation was mainly due to an inappropriate use of email.

Watertown Town Council Might Have Broken Sunshine Law
(October 3, 2008, Wicked Local Watertown, Steve Bagley)
A Watertown Town Council member alleges that the Town Council’s decision to go into executive session to discuss transferring town employees into the General Insurance Commission's Group Insurance plan was a violation of the Open Meeting Law.

Candidates Differ On Pike Tolls, Income Tax
(October 5, 2008, Milford Daily News, Aaron Wasserman)
...but agree on the Open Meeting Law. This is an article about a debate between the two candidates running for the 8th Middlesex representative seat. Both candidates agree that the Massachusetts Legislature should be subject to the Open Meeting Law:

"It can be challenging making difficult decisions in open forums, but that results in better decisions," said [Democratic Carolyn] Dykema, referencing her time on the Planning Board. [Republican Daniel] Haley said the Open Meeting Law exemption "is not democracy," referring to his time in Romney's administration, trying to pass several bills as lawmakers jockeyed behind the scenes.

Springfield Councilors Push For Open Meeting Law Rules For Police Complaint Review Board (October 7, 2008, The Republican on Masslive.com, Mike Plaisance)
Another article about the Springfield Community Complaint Review Board and an attempt by some City Council members to pass an ordinance making the Board subject to the Open Meeting Law.

Retreat Concept Advances
(October 10, 2008, Amherst Bulletin, Mary Carey)
According to this article, the Northwestern District Attorney’s office has decided it would not be a violation of the Open Meeting Law if the Regional School Committee holds a private retreat as long as they limit their discussions to how they can work together and do not discuss school district policy. The private retreat is to engage in teambuilding. (The DA’s ruling seems wrong, or, at the very least, a bit naive.)

Keep It Open Public Excluded From Decision-making In Charlton
(October 15, 2008, Worcester Telegram and Gazette, Editorial)
Editorial about the Worcester DA finding that the Charlton Board of Selectmen violated the Open Meeting Law when it held its review of the town administrator’s job performance in executive session. Robert Ambrogi describes the details on his Media Law blog.

What's New in Open Government...

A continuing series with news about open government issues around Massachusetts. The following are stories about open government issues that appeared during the second half of September:

City Council Reviews Open Meeting Law
(Sept. 16, 2008, The Roslindale Transcript)
Another story about the Boston City Council’s Open Meeting Law confusion.
Contains a great quote from At-Large City Councilor Sam Yoon: “‘The public has the right to know what we do on the council. Open government is good government … That’s one of the reasons I ran for office, to bring in more people into the process,’ said Yoon. ‘So I think that’s something we need to have in mind at all times as we go about this.’”

A Brief History of Open Meeting Law Complaints in Amherst
(Sept. 19, 2008, Amherst Bulletin)
Brief run down of unfounded claims of violations and violations of the open meeting law. The Amherst town meeting tried to pass a bylaw in 2007 imposing fines on violators.

West Side Gets It Right; Hub Goes Awry
(Sept. 21, 2008, The Republican)
More on the Boston City Council Open Meeting Law matter.

Open Meeting Training Planned in Pittsfield
(Sept. 23, 2008, iberkshires.com)
Story about Pittsfield public officials receiving training sponsored by the Berkshire DA and the Secretary of State’s Public Records Division on the requirements of the open meeting law. Good to see some public officials are being trained at least.

Williams Gets $37,000 Settlement Agreement
(Sept. 24, 2008, The Nantucket Independent)
Story describes the trouble the newspaper had obtaining a copy from the town of the settlement agreement in an employment matter. The town released the document only after it was ordered to do so by the Public Records Division of the Secretary of State’s office.

Uncovering the Hidden Health Hazards at Restaurants
(Sept. 27, 2008, The Metrowest Daily News)
This is a story about access or the difficulty of obtaining access to health inspection reports. The Patriot Ledger attempted to obtain the reports from 6 local health departments and reported on its results.