Openness essential in government
If the “right to know” is not spelled out in the Constitution, it should go without saying that a government can only be accountable when transparent and accessible, enabling citizens to be informed.
Yet during this 10th anniversary of Sunshine Week, it’s discouraging to note how often government in Kansas resists openness.
There has been some success, though rare, in lifting roadblocks. Because of a 2014 law, Kansans now see the release of probable cause affidavits in many criminal cases, shining a new light on the reasons for arrests and filing of charges. That was a big, defining change in a year that has tested citizens’ confidence in law enforcement around the country.
But government institutions too often treat the exemptions in the Kansas Open Records Act like mandates rather than options. Kansas State University recently made ridiculous redactions before releasing e-mails related to the state budget between the governor’s budget director and a KSU-based official. In Wichita, a public incident report from the Jan. 3 police shooting of John Quintero was similarly blacked out.
Prohibitive fees are required to access public records, such as the $1,800 the University of Kansas charged a student group seeking documents about financial links between a KU economic research center and the Koch brothers, and the $1,235 that Gov. Sam Brownback’s office told The Eagle it would take to obtain records of e-mails and phone communications between the office and former chief of staff David Kensinger.
And officials in a position to step in when government is operating in the dark instead often do the opposite.
A House bill would permit cities and counties to publish official notices on their websites rather than in a local newspaper – guaranteeing that some citizens would miss notifications crucial to them. A Senate-passed bill would exempt police video footage from the open-records law. And the House rejected proposals to require that all votes be recorded and that budgets be available two days before being voted on.
Meanwhile, lawmakers have yet to act this session on bills that would ensure officials can’t hide their work by using private e-mail accounts and that would allow for streaming and and archiving online audio of select legislative committee hearings.
Gov. Sam Brownback said he’s concerned the bills aimed at disclosing officials’ private e-mails about public business would “have a real chilling impact” on the ability to get input, especially in the executive branch.
But how about the chilling impact that secrecy has on trust in government?
Rather than fight openness at every turn, public officials in Kansas need to include operating transparently among their highest priorities.
For the editorial board, Rhonda Holman
This story was originally published March 16, 2015 at 7:07 PM with the headline "Openness essential in government."