From the Greenville Daily Reflector (7/12/09): The shades lifted, if only slightly, this week to allow more sunshine to illuminate the operations of North Carolina government. An advancing public records bill and a new policy regarding e-mail were welcome steps toward the open and public environment Raleigh should vigorously cultivate.
Those who serve in public office do so at the pleasure of the people, a fact too often lost on those in power. Measures that expand accountability and the public’s right to know return the balance of power where it rightfully belongs, on the side of citizens.
For open-government advocates, Wednesday brought reason for hope.
It could be found in the progress of a bill that would force governments to pay legal fees should public document cases go to court and the governments were found in the wrong. A new division of the office of the state’s attorney general would be created to help mediate public records disputes under the bill. It cleared the House Finance Committee and is expected to face consideration by the full House as soon as next week.
There is hope as well that an executive order signed by Gov. Beverly Perdue will rectify a problem that emerged under her predecessor regarding the retention of e-mail about state business. Former Gov. Mike Easley’s administration did not keep those messages, which were arguably protected under the state’s public records law. Perdue’s order requires employees to keep such messages for at least 24 hours, and would create a searchable archiving system that could keep e-mail for a decade.
These may seem like small battles. Attorneys’ fees do not always inflict significant cost on an individual or organization seeking a public record. And no governor will be eager to face the lawsuits Easley’s administration did when it failed to keep its e-mail.
But one wonders why such battles are even necessary. Documents created by government should almost always be in the public domain, and governments should not seek to inflict excessive expense on those who desire to see them. And the state should always err on the side of keeping public records rather than deleting them, and to retain all files associated with the execution of state business.
Yet, the misdeeds of those in office are well known and measures like these are needed to protect the public’s interests and citizens’ right to know. As such, this progress should be cheered, even as officials should be expected to keep their actions open and accessible.
Daily Reflector Staff Editorial