The Arkansas House of Representatives failed the good people of Arkansas last week by passing along to the Senate the most threatening attack ever on our vaunted Freedom of Information Act.
Plainly put: Amended House Bill 1610 remains an unnecessary, woefully inadequate and destructive piece of legislation, supposedly to define what legally constitutes a meeting, that can still be stopped when the Senate State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee convenes today at 10 a.m. The shame of this was reflected in the fact that 26 of your elected House representatives failed to vote or voted present rather than stand and represent the best interests of all Arkansans.
GOP Rep. Mary Bentley's poorly conceived bill, which she didn't appear to defend or discuss with the state FOIA Task Force, allows a third of an elected body to meet privately to conduct public business.
Does that sound like a bill designed to benefit good government and you, or those of special interests who'd rather you not see what they are up to?
It doesn't require a math expert to understand that, under HB1610, three members of a nine-member board or council can meet, poll each other, and make decisions privately, then one of those three can go and meet with two others to inform them and continue such scheming until the entire board has legally met to discuss our business in secret. In today's world, these meetings that methodically eliminate your right to know can be held via texts or email.
These are called serial meetings and HB1610 fails to even address that tactic. That failure tells me that those who engage in such practices will be open to FOIA suits for violating the spirit of the law. Fort Smith's FOIA "bulldog" attorney Joey McCutchen certainly agrees, and has had his share of courtroom victories.
This bill also doesn't address the fact that chance meetings are not considered an FOIA violation; neither are members who meet at various projects or programs, as long as they comply with the spirit of the law. Neither does it say how many are permitted to gather in secret on a 13-member board or council. Is it four or 4.2? And should a council risk lawsuit by interpreting 4.2 to mean five members?
Jimmie Cavin of Conway, an FOIA watchdog, explained further. "I've been looking at school district websites most of the day. Accordingly, I've attached a list of 94 school boards with five members. The total number of school boards in the state is 262. The HB1610 amendment allows one-third of bodies to meet secretly. For boards of five, that means one and two-thirds members can meet, which makes it one or irrelevant.
"If passed, HB1610 will allow 168 boards to allow at least two members to meet in secret, and the other 94 are just out of luck. This was the most un-thought-out amendment I have ever seen. I'm not a lawyer, but it sounds like a lot of lawsuits will be filed."
He also wondered what the 52 House members who voted for this bill will say to the school boards in their districts with five members that Bentley overlooked entirely in its provisions.
Think for a moment about this terrible piece of legislation, valued readers. HB1610, which is opposed by every FOIA group, including the state's FOIA Task Force, the FOIA Coalition, the Arkansas Press Association and untold citizens who believe an open society needs and deserves open government, stands today at the doorstep of becoming an unnecessary revision to a wonderful law that has served our state's voters and taxpayers well since it was enacted under GOP Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller in 1967.
I also find it most ironic that an elected Republican House is behind this push to destroy something so precious for the people, while carrying water for those anxious to be able to do our business privately and without accountability.
McCutchen put it plainly, which should give everyone even more pause. "Multimillion-dollar projects can be decided without the public seeing the discussion. Think about the casino project in Russellville as one example."
Responsible legislators who still can help stop this travesty this morning against our right to know are members of the Senate State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee: Chairman Blake Johnson ([email protected]), Vice Chair Clarke Tucker ([email protected]), Stephanie Flowers ([email protected]), Bryan King ([email protected]), Steve Crowell ([email protected]), Bart Hester ([email protected]), Jim Dotson ([email protected]) and John Payton ([email protected]). Please take five minutes right now and share your feelings about Mary Bentley's amended HB1610.
Now go out into the world and treat everyone you meet exactly like you want them to treat you.
Mike Masterson is a longtime Arkansas journalist, was editor of three Arkansas dailies and headed the master's journalism program at Ohio State University. Email him at [email protected].