Those who tire of this newspaper and other journalistic enterprises sermonizing about the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act probably haven’t had the pleasure of being shut out of a public meeting or denied documents describing the use or misuse of taxpayer dollars.
It takes only once before most realize the transparency of the government decisionmaking process requires a constant watch and the weight of law. Since 1967, the act has served thousands of everyday Arkansans, keeping them informed through their own eff orts or those of journalistsseeking to explain public policies.
What time and time again amazes us is how government leaders regularly misunderstand or deliberately ignore the letter of the law and the principle behind it. It’s simple: The government is of the people, by the people and for the people. It only makes sense, then, that the people should have full access to the information developed on their behalf by government entities and the decision-making process of leaders they elect.
Bella Vista went from “village” to incorporated city seven years ago. That’s long enough to get familiar with the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act, if one cares about its tenets. A recent complaint filed by a reporter at the Weekly Vista, the weekly newspaper owned by the same company that owns this newspaper, details an egregious disregard for the public by some aldermen. The prosecutor is investigating.
The issue aldermen were weighing was a Bella Vista Property Owners Association off er to sell three buildings housing the Fire and Police departments to the city for $1.8 million. In a nutshell, the haggling between city and POA has continued. This spending of taxpayer dollars is precisely the kind of decision-making taxpayers should be included in.
According to the complaint, the City Council’s stance on the deal made a 180-degree turn between meetings on Sept. 11 and Sept. 25. In reporting the situation, Weekly Vista Reporter Cassi Lapp spoke with aldermen individually.
Alderman Jerry Snow acknowledged talking to Alderman Becky Morgan by phone about the deal prior to the Sept. 25 meeting. Alderman Allen King told Lapp, according to her complaint, aldermen would call each other if they needed to between meetings to discuss public matters. Morgan said she didn’t recall whether she spoke to other aldermen by phone, using a tried and true response to uncomfortable questions.
According to Lapp, King said he didn’t know state law outlawing council discussions between public meetings applied to phone calls.
We have no stance on which deal - the POA’s or the city’s - is the right approach, but we do know municipal government in Arkansas isn’t supposed to operate this way. It’s a decision about public money. It’s a decision the elected City Council must make. And it’s a decision that should be discussed only in full public view, not in secretive phone calls that can lead to predetermined outcomes with no public involvement.
Maybe Bella Vista wasn’t really ready to be more than a village. Its elected leaders are not acting like responsible public servants. The law - and what’s right - isn’t a hard thing to follow. Meet in public. Discuss in public. Vote in public.
Anything less is corruption and collusion. Bella Vista residents deserve better.
Opinion, Pages 10 on 10/06/2013