That darned public, and those darned laws.
When a quorum of a governmental body meets to discuss - or even gather information about - a public matter, it becomes a public meeting. The public must be given proper notification, and be allowed to view the proceedings.
Pretty simple stuff.
Yet sometimes that simple stuff can be inconvenient for public officials - whether it be regarding the subject matter or the location of a particular meeting. But the Open Meetings Laws weren't written for the convenience of governmental bodies, they are in place to ensure the public has access to the decision-making processes of its elected officials.
Rep. Marlin Schneider, D-Wisconsin Rapids, seems to need to be reminded of this. So, too, apparently, does the Wisconsin Legislative Council.
Schneider objected to inviting the public to a meeting last Tuesday of an Assembly committee that was meeting to gather information about a bill related to radio frequency identification tags. The problem for Schneider was that the meeting was going to be held in the Beaver Dam Walmart distribution center.
Schneider said the Walmart facility is private, and "they cannot have everybody under the sun touring through their distribution center, obviously for security reasons."
Schneider went on to say that the meeting was "not open to every Tom, Dick and Harry on the planet."
So much for any regard for openness.
The Open Meetings Laws do not have exemptions that would allow closing a public meeting for security concerns. Unfortunately, the Wisconsin Legislative Council stated there's plenty of precedent for closing legislative committee meetings when security is a concern. That's a precedent that ought to be legally challenged. The council's deputy director, Laura Rose, also said it would be logistically impossible to allow the public to attend the tour ... in a warehouse that is 1.2 million square feet.
Sadly, the council advises lawmakers on legal issues related to the committee process.
Schneider felt that simply telling the public that the meeting would take place was sufficient. It was not.
Fortunately, we guess, only two committee members showed up for the tour, less than a quorum, which meant it ended up not being a public meeting, after all. At least one committee member declined to attend to avoid the appearance of impropriety.
For obvious reasons, governmental bodies cannot be allowed to shut the public out of meetings by holding them in private places. This recent attempt by Rep. Schneider (yes, he's the same Marlin Schneider that wants to limit your access to the state's online court records) must not become a trend.
When a quorum of a governmental body meets to discuss - or even gather information about - a public matter, it becomes a public meeting. The public must be given proper notification, and be allowed to view the proceedings.
Pretty simple stuff.
Yet sometimes that simple stuff can be inconvenient for public officials - whether it be regarding the subject matter or the location of a particular meeting. But the Open Meetings Laws weren't written for the convenience of governmental bodies, they are in place to ensure the public has access to the decision-making processes of its elected officials.
Rep. Marlin Schneider, D-Wisconsin Rapids, seems to need to be reminded of this. So, too, apparently, does the Wisconsin Legislative Council.
Schneider objected to inviting the public to a meeting last Tuesday of an Assembly committee that was meeting to gather information about a bill related to radio frequency identification tags. The problem for Schneider was that the meeting was going to be held in the Beaver Dam Walmart distribution center.
Schneider said the Walmart facility is private, and "they cannot have everybody under the sun touring through their distribution center, obviously for security reasons."
Schneider went on to say that the meeting was "not open to every Tom, Dick and Harry on the planet."
So much for any regard for openness.
The Open Meetings Laws do not have exemptions that would allow closing a public meeting for security concerns. Unfortunately, the Wisconsin Legislative Council stated there's plenty of precedent for closing legislative committee meetings when security is a concern. That's a precedent that ought to be legally challenged. The council's deputy director, Laura Rose, also said it would be logistically impossible to allow the public to attend the tour ... in a warehouse that is 1.2 million square feet.
Sadly, the council advises lawmakers on legal issues related to the committee process.
Schneider felt that simply telling the public that the meeting would take place was sufficient. It was not.
Fortunately, we guess, only two committee members showed up for the tour, less than a quorum, which meant it ended up not being a public meeting, after all. At least one committee member declined to attend to avoid the appearance of impropriety.
For obvious reasons, governmental bodies cannot be allowed to shut the public out of meetings by holding them in private places. This recent attempt by Rep. Schneider (yes, he's the same Marlin Schneider that wants to limit your access to the state's online court records) must not become a trend.
