Let's say you walk into one of Arkansas' new full-fledged casinos (not one of those foolish caverns full of "electronic games of skill" the state has harbored for years). You saunter over to the craps table to place a few bets, and it comes time for a new shooter to sling the dice. He rolls a seven, which according to the rules of the game, is a winner.
What if the dealer collected all the chips on the table and refused to pay off the bet.
What’s the point?
A special prosecutor proclaimed violations of the law by Pope County officials, then demurred in doing anything substantial about their actions.
You'd probably want to speak with a supervisor.
Now, think how you'd feel if the pit boss sympathized with your situation, said she agreed that the bet represented a winner, then shrugged and reported there was nothing she could do about it?
How would you feel? Well, you'd probably begin to suspect there was a reason the game was called craps.
Advocates for open government had every reason to feel exactly the same way last week. A state prosecutor reported Pope County Judge Ben Cross and several members of the Pope County Quorum Court had egregiously violated the Freedom of information Act, Arkansas legal tip o'the hat to transparency in government.
The finding felt momentarily like a big win for transparency. The prosecutor was unequivocal: Cross and the Quorum Court members met secretly multiple times as they considered endorsement actions related to the controversial state licensing of a casino in Pope County.
"The FOIA is in place to allow the public to be aware of the process that is used by those that govern," special prosecutor Jason Barrett said in his findings. "Here, that purpose was thwarted by back door meetings and deals and, at least a portion of the citizens of Pope County, are now rightfully concerned about the process. It may very well be that the quorum court and county judge have reached the best decision for Pope County, but due to their system of governing in secret, some people will always question their motives and this result."
Indeed, all people ought to question their motives and the result, because secrecy in government runs counter to good government. Pope County residents will never know how these critical decisions were reached and what influenced their elected officials.
And then, the rest of the story: The prosecutor, despite outlining conduct of elected officials that violates the law and reflects a disregard for Pope County's citizen-taxpayers/voters, concluded pressing criminal charges is not "prudent or possible at this time."
It came so close to a courageous stand for the public, but it was just talk. The county judge and the members of the Quorum Court get to pontificate about respectfully disagreeing with the prosecutor. Cross referred to the prosecutor's findings as "conclusions, assumptions and innuendo." Had these public officials been charged with a criminal violation, a court's determination of guilt or innocence would leave precious little room for such characterizations.
The Pope County saga over the licensing of a casino certainly is likely to move forward, but out of four casinos authorized by a voter-approved constitutional amendment in 2018, it's the only one marred by the black cloud of secrecy. No matter how great Cherokee Nation Businesses, if that's the entity that ultimately gets to build and operate a casino there, the casino's birth will always be remembered for the corrupt way the local endorsement for a gaming license was achieved.
Last fall, Fifth Circuit Judge Bill Pearson of Clarksville offered a great deal of cover for the rogue group of elected officials. In a lawsuit over the secret meetings, Pearson inexplicably determined that members of a governing body can meet privately as long as they're not coming to a decision on a public issue.
That is one of the most horrendous interpretations of the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act in its 53-year history, wholly unsupported by precedence. The courts have, admirably, interpreted the law in favor of the public's right to know what their tax dollars are funding and what their elected officials are doing when it comes to public policy.
Why? There's a clue in the legislative intent adopted by lawmakers in 1967 and signed by Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller: "It is vital in a democratic society that public business be performed in an open and public manner so that the electors shall be advised of the performance of public officials and of the decisions that are reached in public activity and in making public policy. Toward this end, this chapter is adopted, making it possible for them or their representatives to learn and to report fully the activities of their public officials."
It has again been made clear that a law protecting public access to government decision-making is only as strong as the courts' and prosecutors' willingness to take on the elected officials who actively seek to hide their deliberations.
If you exclude the public from discussions of a public issue, you have diminished their capacity to monitor state and local government and the details of how public policy comes into existence. True openness in government isn't just concerned with the final vote, but the ideas and compromises that eventually lead to the ultimate decision.
Chuck Garrett, chief executive officer for Cherokee Nation Businesses, said in a statement that the vetting process put in place by the Pope County Quorum Court was "thorough and transparent." Sorry, but Arkansas residents do not need a vendor with a vested interest in the outcome of these secret meetings explaining what lives up to the letter and spirit of the state's open government foundations.
Barrett determined pursuit of criminal was pointless since Judge Pearson would ultimately decide that case. Still, isn't there some value in making him decide, of presenting a case designed to protect the interests of the people of Pope County?
What now? The answer to such horribly anti-public acts by elected officials when our judicial system fails to hold them accountable to the law is for the people to vote those elected officials out at the next available opportunity.
It's ultimately up to Pope County's voters as to what will be expected and tolerated from elected leaders. We think the people ought to hold the county's leadership to a high standard, an expectation leadership has failed so far to meet.
Commentary on 01/26/2020