Bring on the sunshine

After the outcry last week about the frequency of Augusta commissioners’ secret meetings, they reacted by having another one Tuesday, retreating behind closed doors for about 40 minutes. (I timed it at 39 minutes; the affidavit signed by Mayor Pro Tem Alvin Mason says it lasted 44 minutes.)

It wasn’t completely discouraging though. I saw a glimmer of hope that some of the commissioners might be wising up to how bad this looks. After the motion was made to go into a legal meeting, Don Grantham, Joe Jackson and Mr. Mason voted no.

“I just didn’t feel it was necessary,” Mr. Grantham said later. “We don’t need to have a legal session just every day we go down there to meet.”

Amen, brother.

But a glimmer was all it was. The closed meeting was otherwise ambiguous business as usual. City Attorney Chiquita Johnson again gave vague reasons – administrative proceedings, real estate and three issues of potential litigation. And again, the explanatory affidavit required under Georgia law was a pre-typed form with a list of generic choices. Mr. Mason checked three of them: consultation with the county attorney to discuss pending or potential litigation, discussion of confidential tax matters and discussion of buying real estate.

From a legal standpoint, that’s probably all commissioners have to do. But if they’re going to keep meeting in secret nearly every time they get together, it sure would be nice if they’d do something to assure their constituents that they’re following the law. An opportunity for abuse I see here is talking about potential litigation that isn’t potential as defined by the Georgia Court of Appeals in 2001. Idle threats and fear of being sued aren’t valid reasons to shut the public out of a conversation. There has to be tangible proof that a lawsuit is imminent, such as a demand letter, an attorney being hired or a history of litigation with an opposing party.

This isn’t just paranoia on my part. Mr. Grantham confirmed the commission has gone into closed session before to talk about possible lawsuits that didn’t meet that threshold. Any controversial issue, any commission decision that could make someone unhappy, could be construed as potential litigation.

So why not re-type those affidavit forms and replace the generic choices with four or five blank lines? The mayor or the presiding commissioner could jot down something more reassuring such as “talked about the Teresa Smith lawsuit” or “discussed pending litigation involving a contractor who has sent a notice of intent to sue.” Or in the case of personnel, “discussed a specific employee’s job performance.”

I’d feel a lot better if an elected leader swore an oath to that effect, saying that's all they talked about.

“There’s no downside to surpassing the requirements of the Open Meetings Act,” Georgia First Amendment Foundation Executive Director Hollie Manheimer said. “The more information, the better.”

Georgia Press Association attorney David Hudson said government officials often forget who the government belongs to.

“The Georgia Constitution states that ‘Public officers are the trustees and servants of the people and are at all times amenable to them’,” Mr. Hudson wrote in an e-mail. “Is that consistent with closing meetings routinely and giving sketchy affidavits? I submit not.

“Unfortunately,” he said, “they often rely on attorneys who think they are ingratiating themselves with their employers by advising them that they can close meetings.”