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Open meetings law discussed
From page one
Craig Stock, the organization's secretary and a reporter for the Wichita Eagle and Beacon, said the new law was 'perfect but it was better than the old law.
Sigmar Delta Chi testimony recommended several provisions to the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee and cited exam- abuses that had occurred under the old law.
One example was the Wichita Board of Education, which had had an executive session at every formal meeting for six years. They were told that the board might not have taken any votes in the closed sessions, it had voted 177 times in open meetings. And 170 of those votes had
"The EXTREMELY high percentage of unanimous decisions and apparent lack of discussion and debate in open meetings led many persons to believe decisions or conducted by the managers in meetings or in the numerous executive sessions." a copy of the testimony read.
The testimony also reported that Donald Brazel, editor of the Pitburg Morning Sun, had said Crawford County officials there sometimes met with the sheriff or other county officials to make decisions about budget changes.
The officials, as in Sedgwick County, said that these meetings were open but because there was no requirement for notification under the open meetings law then in effect, these get-togethers are in reality closed, secret meetings, the testimony said.
JOIN MARTIN, first assistant attorney general, also testified before the legislature and recommended that a definition of meetings be included in the bill.
But Martin said the section giving quasi-judicial bodies the right to close meetings was a success.
"This language could give rise to a great deal of uncertainty on the part of admitting into meetings law should be as precise as possible and there should be little room for it."
Martin said the amendment changing an
open meetings law violation penalty from criminal to civil was an improvement.
"We have had this law five years and there has been only one criminal prosecution," he said. "I don't think the threat of criminal prosecution is a real incentive for people to comply with the law."
ONE REASON there were so few prosecutions, Martin said, was that county attorneys might be reluctant to file suit against members of public bodies.
Boards of education seem to be the most common offenders of the open meetings law, Martin said. But he said he didn't know why.
Marion McGheehny, executive director of the Kanaas Association of School Boards, said school boards frequently closed their meetings.
He testified in House and Senate committee meetings about the bill, but said the resulting law wasn't better as far as school boards were concerned.
The listing of reasons for closed meetings of law is an improvement, McGhee said.
BUT THE LAW might be difficult to enforce, he said. For example, a majority of a school board's members could attend a basketball game and mention school business, and they would have violated the open meetings law.
"It's unealistic to think that school board members don't talk about school matters," he said. "Any public body is going to find it funny and irritating even though it's against the law."
"It's just human nature," he said.
He said members of public bodies might separately law by discussing matters separately.
"If someone accuses a teacher of committing a crime the board isn't going to make it public until they have come out," she said. "We get a lot of false charges about school employees
--and don't want to injure someone's reputation."
ROGER N. WILSON, WIDW-TV (Toyoka)
broadcaster, testified during the interim.
Wilson said he was laud the law was more specific.
The final Senate vote on Senate Bill 5 was 32-1 in favor of the bill. It passed the House with a majority.
"but one of the problems we have had with the open meetings law is really an almost morbid fear on the part of the prosecutors to try to prosecute agencies." Wilson said. "Let's face it. We are dealing with politicians and government reluctant to go to war with county commissioners or city commissioners."
Lawrence Police said that a bomb exploded about 3:45 Saturday morning in the northeast TV room in the basement but that there was no fire.
Wilson said he would like to see executive sessions conducted entirely in the open and also wanted private citizens to have the right to court to enforce the open meetings law.
The Lawrence Fire Department said that the Douglas County Arson Squad was investigating.
A bomb explosion at the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity house, 1645 Tennessee St., this weekend resulted in no injuries or major structural damages.
No one injured in frat explosion
State Representative Jim Ungerel (R-Marysville) said he had voted against the bill because there was more free discussion in a closed meeting than in a public one.
The fire department said that there was damage to the tile, panel, ceiling and floor of the building.
He also said that the public bodies should decide what matters would be discussed in executive session and that the new law have specified reasons for closed meetings.
"THEY SAY ignorance of the law is no excuse but you know as well as I do that on small governing bodies and boards very few are aware of the intricacies of the law," Talkington said.
STATE SEN. ED, Reilly (R-Leavenworth), chairman of the Federal and State Affairs Committee, said one of the committee's aim was to make the law more specific and that, overall, he was happy with the outcome.
1 "personally feel that the bill will be a help to the media and will let the sunshine
"It isn't easy to vote against an open meetings bill," he said. "I am not against open meetings but I do feel we should not continually pass laws that will trap people."
But Ungerer said he didn't think any action should be taken in closed meeting.
He said if the quasi-judicial provision was abused, the law would be changed in later legislative sessions. He said parole boards were involved in the corporation Commission were agencies that
Talkingungen said that the bill's definition of a meeting was vague and that public officials could not be involved in it.
State Senator Bob Talkington (R-Iola) voted against Senate Bill 5.
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