From the Raleigh News & Observer (1/16/10): Republicans in North Carolina have the chance to become the party of open government. But in Wake County, they are missing that chance.
GOP-backed candidates won four seats on the Wake school board and now control five of the nine seats.
At the first meeting, the new majority added several major items to the agenda and approved them. The five had met ahead of time to chart the course of their first meeting.
State law bars a board majority from meeting privately to discuss public matters.
The new members said they didn’t break the law because they had not been sworn in when they met in private. Then at a meeting Jan. 5, the new majority placed another major item on the agenda – ending mandatory year-round schools – and voted to approve it.
By working to avoid public debate, members of the new majority are missing an opportunity to help their party redefine politics in North Carolina.
At the state level, Democrats have ruled for decades, with a few exceptions.
In the legislature, majority Democrats often have ruled with disregard for open government and public debate.
GOP-sponsored bills often can’t get a hearing in committee. Budget bills are rammed through at the last minute – after a small group negotiates in private and inserts some “special provisions.”
At the executive level, the last administration often resisted public records requests and sometimes destroyed public records. That administration wouldn’t even release an accurate schedule for the governor.
So it should come as no surprise that the Democrats who run state government have been tarnished by corruption. Because open government leads to honest government. And closed government engenders corruption.
Republicans, when in the minority, talk a good game. But can they deliver when in the majority? So far, the new Wake school board has not delivered on the GOP promise of open, robust debate.
The last-minute maneuvering might help them in the short term. But in the long term, it could hurt Republican efforts to become North Carolina’s majority party.
Art Pope, a businessman and former Republican legislator, has been a voice for open government for years. He is the founding chairman of the John Locke Foundation, which from time to time has joined forces with The News & Observer to push for open government.
Pope, whose influence with the new board has been debated, says he was not involved with changes to the agenda. He defended those moves, saying the new majority was in transition and had a right to caucus and plan its strategy.
But he said: “In general, now that they’ve gone through that transition period, I would strongly encourage them to show this is an example of how a Republican-endorsed board can do better than Democrats have in the past. They can provide a contrast by having open, civil and cordial meetings with plenty of notice to the public.”
I agree. Let’s see if the new school board majority can meet Pope’s challenge.
by John Drescher, News & Observer Executive Editor