Follow open meetings law

Follow open meetings law
Friday, February 10, 2006
Deseret NewsDeseret Morning News editorial

Any number of public bodies in Utah give members committee assignments to expedite the decision-making process. The Utah State Board of Education, for instance, begins its meeting days in committee meetings, which are open to the public. These meetings, during which issues are discussed in detail and committee members may form recommendations for the board as a whole, are open to the public, as they are required to be under Utah's Open and Public Meetings Act. The process works well and it follows the law.

The Ogden Board of Education needs to take notice. Recently, the board split its body into halves and conducted two closed meetings of four members each. In doing so, the school board conducted the people's business behind closed doors, which violated the spirit and letter of the law.

This was particularly troubling because the school board at the time was contemplating bonding for more than $96 million for new school construction and renovation. Two years ago, Ogden voters soundly defeated a $156 million bond issue. This begs the question why the school board would meet in closed sessions when the voters so overwhelmingly rejected the earlier proposal. While some balked at the cost, other voters voted no — and the local newspaper editorialized against the measure — because the plan for the spending was not clear cut.

Seemingly, if the school board wants to pass this bond in June, it should conduct its deliberations in public so there would be a high degree of understanding how the money would be used and how the secured borrowing would be repaid.

Instead, the board took the unusual step of dividing itself into two subquorums, barring the public and the press. Not only does this violate the state open meetings act, it harms the public trust — something a school board should never take for granted, let alone as it seeks to ask the public's permission to borrow more than $96 million.