Editorial: Openness is a badge of strength

Friday, June 1, 2001 | 9:17 a.m.

It is encouraging that the Nevada Legislature sent a strong message to local governments and state agencies that circumventing the state's open meeting law will no longer be tolerated. Currently the law prohibits secret meetings of elected or appointed public bodies if a quorum of members is present. Public officials have been able to get around the law, however, by breaking these meetings up into smaller groups to discuss matters that will come before the entire board. These so-called "serial meetings" at the very least violate the spirit of the law. Assembly Bill 225, sponsored by Assemblywoman Vivian Freeman, D-Reno, will stop these "creative" efforts to thwart the law.

The intent of Nevada's open meeting law is simple: Backroom deal-making is prohibited. The law seeks to preserve the public's right to know how its government arrives at its decisions. Sometimes to understand the importance of a law, it is necessary to imagine what it would be like without it. If there wasn't an open meeting law, officials could gather in secret and decide the outcome of a matter before a vote was ever taken. The public then would be shut out from knowing why county commissions, city councils or state regulatory agencies took the actions that they did. The lack of an open meeting law also would increase the already-influential sway that powerful special interests have with public bodies.

Some governments may believe that complying with such restrictions makes their jobs more difficult and time-consuming. But open-meeting requirements should be embraced as a way to ensure that government is strong and healthy enough to withstand intense public scrutiny.

AB225 is now on its way to Gov. Kenny Guinn. The governor should sign this important legislation that provides a necessary check on government, ensuring that its business is conducted in the open.