Government should find ways to open public access

March 19, 2008 11:50 pm

— Do you want to know who is in the county jail right this very minute?
Do you want to know how much your city manager is paid in salary and benefits? How about your school superintendent? Would you like to see how much money the county spent on repair of a certain road last year?
These all are items you are entitled to see thanks to the various open meeting and open records laws in our country. Oklahoma has an open meeting and open records law that local and state governing bodies must abide by.
This week is recognized by local, state and national media as Sunshine Week. It’s held every year in March as a way to draw attention to the rights of the public to know what their various governments are doing, how they are spending taxpayer money and what information is available for public purview.
The Oklahoma Open Records Act and Open Meeting Act exist to bring government closer to the people — to allow responsible access, unfettered as possible, to the deliberations and documents produced by public bodies.
Many times, only members of the media request this information because, generally, the media acts as the means to inform the public about what the government is doing.
However, it is important to point out sunshine laws or open meeting and records laws were not written for the media. They were written as a way to make the government accountable to the citizens who pay taxes for the services the government provides.
Government entities have to accept the responsibilities of providing an open environment, tolerant of and responsive to inquiry by the press and public. These laws exist to encourage and facilitate an informed citizenry’s understanding of the government processes and governmental problems.
Unfortunately, some government entities don’t fully embrace these high standards. Some officials are ignorant of the law, others try to find ways to get around compliance. For this reason, Oklahoma’s attorney general has hosted open meeting and open records seminars around the state the past several years in order to make sure officials fully understand their responsibilities under this law.
Just because we have these laws doesn’t mean there aren’t challenges to them. Right now, the Oklahoma Supreme Court has decided some public records should not be available on the Internet. This is exactly the wrong direction for our state to be going in. Instead, the state should work to solve issues of identity concern without limiting the public’s access to these documents.
Instead of looking for ways to keep information from the public, all governing bodies should work under the premise open is better. Until all governing bodies embrace that concept, there always will be Sunshine Weeks and annual recognition of the rights of the American public to know what their government is doing and how their government is conducting their business.