Open Meetings Board Quiet Watchdog With No Bite
More than 20 years after its last major revision, it’s time for a complete review of the Open Meetings Act and its effectiveness at keeping the public’s business public.
Note: The following commentary appeared on Marylandreporter.com on Oct. 16, 2012 and is used with permission here. The Capital Debt Affordability Committee held a meeting without public notice several weeks ago to look at a proposal for $750 million in new debt, and then scheduled a follow-up meeting, again with no required public notice. I wrote a story about the meetings, and noted the failure of the debt committee to comply with the Open Meetings Act, but I did not file a complaint with the compliance board that enforces the act. After the story came out, an anonymous reader named Shelly called, and asked why I had not filed a complaint with the board. Board has little power The principal reason was that the board has little power to do…
SanjayJag
4:21 pm on Saturday, October 20, 2012
Open government is a process that requires ongoing and sustained commitment. The ball got dropped when the original chairman of the Open Meetings Law Compliance Board passed away. more ›