Editorial: Keeping an eye on the public’s business
Cynthia Prairie | Jun 09, 2021 | Comments 0
By Cynthia Prairie
©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC
From its launch almost 10 years ago, The Chester Telegraph has taken this mission seriously, calling out select boards and boards of education for failing to follow state Open Meetings and public records laws. The state laws are simple and easy to follow, with the overriding principles of transparency and openness. Both the Secretary of State’s Office and the Vermont League of Cities and Towns have excellent information regarding their implementation.
This isn’t “gotcha journalism.” Each time we find a problem, we ask ourselves if it was an oversight on the part of the public body, a single slip, a confusion or if it is an ongoing problem that needs to be addressed publicly. Many changes have been made with simple reminders to public officials.
But sometimes we need to go public when the problem is recurring or so serious it needs to be called out. Through our efforts, public officials are more aware of their limitations when calling executive sessions, their requirements when calling meetings and issuing agendas, and their duties in making documents available to the public.
In particular, The Chester Telegraph’s work has resulted in improved meetings by the Chester Select Board and the boards of the Two Rivers Supervisory Union and the Green Mountain Board of Education.
But recently a new member of the Green Mountain Board of Directors thought that it would be a good idea to limit the detail of the meeting minutes taken at board meetings and destroy notes and recordings of those meetings after the minutes are approved. The suggestions were apparently pulled from websites that touted best practices for the private sector and were certainly not best practices for public bodies, anywhere. (See: May 26, 2021: GM board member wants …)
Now the detail of board minutes is by and large up to the board. Some boards opt for less detail than those at the TRSU and its school district boards. The minimum requirements, however, fail to convey some of the most insightful information: The whys. The reasoning. The thoughts.
But then came the way-over-the-top suggestion that the board destroy notes and recordings, a explicitly illegal action in the public sector, going all the way up to the White House.
We offered the board member, Dennis Reilly of Cavendish, the opportunity to speak with us, during which he would have been given the time to explain his reasoning and clear up any confusion. His response: “I can’t imagine what you could write about. I seriously don’t believe my suggestions for meeting minutes, yet to be discussed, are newsworthy. Unless, someone put a spin on it. I guess I’ll wait to read your article.”
Mr. Reilly does not understand that being elected to a public body means that he must follow laws that are more strict on his behavior and call for more openness than those for a private business. He should educate himself on those laws right away. The Vermont Secretary of State and the Vermont School Boards Association have materials available for public officials to get up to speed.
And I am sure that he also did not expect the scrutiny that his very public position calls for. Needless to say, we will continue to watch and listen and read and report on it when necessary.
We hope that you, unlike Mr. Reilly, have found that our exposure of these “suggestions” to be newsworthy.
Here’s just a few — and I do mean a few — of the other situations we have exposed:
May 8, 2019: Chester Telegraph claims TRSU board violated state Open Meeting Law
May 22, 2019: TRSU chair Orzechowski: ‘We violated open meeting law’
June 5, 2019: TRSU displays pattern of Open Meeting Law violations
June 12, 2019: Questionable executive session
June 23, 2018: Powden claims ‘no intentional violation’ in Telegraph open meeting complaint
Filed Under: Commentary • Telegraph Editorial
