From the Fayetteville Observer (7/3/09): Maybe they forgot their sunscreen. Or perhaps it's a fear of overexposure. Whatever the reason, lobbyists for city and county governments flocked to the General Assembly last week to argue against a proposal to create an "Open Government Unit" in the state Department of Justice.
It’s much more complex than you understand, the lobbyists told the lawmakers. There are so many levels of government out there that an office regulating public information could even delay the release of important documents.
Sorry, we’re not buying that. What the representatives from the N.C. League of Municipalities and the N.C. Association of County Commissioners were really trying to do is derail a measure that could cost their members money and make them more accountable to the taxpayers they serve. They’re worried about getting too much sunshine.
The bill, reviewed by the House Finance Committee last week, would create an office that would issue advisory opinions about public-records access questions and would try to mediate disputes over records before they went to court. It would help the public get more and better information about the operations of their government.
The measure also would make it easier for the news media and individuals in public-records lawsuits to get reimbursed for lawyers’ fees if the court orders documents released. Judges now have broad discretion to deny those payments, which makes it easier for governments to avoid costly trips to court when they try to keep public information secret.
The high cost of litigation often means that only groups with deep pockets can afford to pry public information out of the grasp of officials who want to keep it secret. In these recessionary times, there aren’t many organizations left with such pockets.
Sadly, many government bodies in North Carolina continue to resist sharing information with the people they represent. It happens commonly on the city and town level, and it happens at the top, too – as former Gov. Mike Easley so ably demonstrated in his dogged attempts to keep official e-mails secret.
We need more openness in government and more incentives for government to share information with the public. We hope this open-government initiative meets with success in both the House and Senate, and goes quickly to the governor for her signature.
We’re sorry if that means some inconvenience for government officials, but some of them could use another reminder that they’re doing our business with our money, and we have a right to see it.
Fayetteville Observer Staff Editorial