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Editorials
Sound advice for open government : Editorials : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, IllinoisSound advice for open government
| 6/23/2011
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The Oswego Village Board received another brief yet informative tutorial on the Illinois Open Meetings Act earlier this month from their attorney, Karl Ottosen. Though Ottosen was advising the village board, his comments concerning this important state law is applicable to all local governmental officials.
One of the points that Ottosen made that we hope village board members found especially useful concerns their use of e-mails.
Ottosen reminded board members that under the law their e-mail messages on their village and even personal e-mail accounts are legally "discoverable." That means someone considering a lawsuit against the village can request and receive copies of their e-mail messages.
If they are using e-mail for village business, Ottosen counseled board members to be judicious with their comments and remarks. He reminded them in this day and age many people are quick to respond, sometimes in anger, to e-mails.
"We think nothing of blasting someone in an e-mail. It's impersonal and we just put down our thoughts and hit the 'send' button," Ottosen noted. But, he then added, "Please don't hit the 'send' button until you have thought about it and then hit the 'delete' button...If there is any doubt whether you should send something-please don't."
Instead of sending an e-mail, Ottosen recommended board members correspond the old fashioned way by calling each other on the telephone. We can understand why Ottosen, as the board's attorney, would make such a suggestion: Unless telephone calls are being taped, they leave no lingering trail that can be reviewed later by attorneys representing plaintiffs or judges.
Ottosen's comments prompted board member Gail Johnson to offer what we believe was an even more useful suggestion-especially for the growing number of public officials who advocate for greater accountability and transparency in government.
Johnson proposed that instead of board members attempting to figure out ways to try to avoid violating the Open Meeting Act, they should "figure out how we can have conversations that all of you (the public) can hear." She explained that while it may be beneficial for board members to discuss issues one-on-one, the discussions don't allow the public to know what individual board members are thinking on a particular issue.
"When we make our final decisions it often seems like we've made them in a void because no one has had the privilege of hearing these conversations," Johnson said.
Johnson acknowledged that her suggestion for more public discussions might lead to longer village board meetings but, in the interest of government transparency, that may be necessary.
We don't want to see village board or other local governmental meetings get any longer, but we believe the public is best served when issues of public policy are discussed fully in public view.
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