From the Winston-Salem Journal (3/15/11): As open-government advocates celebrate Sunshine Week this week, local governments in North Carolina are fighting to keep the shades drawn on public records and meetings.
Every year, a coalition of good-government and civic organizations, including the Journal and the N.C. Press Association, observes Sunshine Week to highlight the need for open government. This year a major issue is before the General Assembly: a proposed constitutional amendment guaranteeing residents a right to open meetings and public records.
Open government is as popular in North Carolina as good barbecue. An Elon University poll found that 93 percent of North Carolinians surveyed said that public hearings are essential for good government, 75 percent believe governments naturally try to keep secrets from their constituents and 80 percent believe transparency is essential for fighting government corruption.
That kind of public support for openness doesn’t faze North Carolina’s local government leaders. In practice, they’re stonewalling residents’ requests for information, and in the hallways of the legislature they are trying to defeat the constitutional amendment with scare tactics.
The Charlotte Observer reported over the weekend on the long delays that many residents encounter in North Carolina when they try to see public records. Because governments are not required to fulfill public records requests within any set time, they procrastinate in doing so, sometimes frustrating the resident’s purpose of getting the information through delay. If this legislature does nothing else this session with regard to public records, it should set a reasonable deadline by which governments must comply with requests.