Missing link

By Staff
December 1, 2002
If a ruling by a Hinds County Chancery Court judge stands, the people of Mississippi will have lost an important vantage point from which to view their governments in action.
Chancellor Denise Owen on Nov. 18 ruled that the state's already weak Open Meetings Act does not cover social events held by government officials. The case was pursued by The Clarion-Ledger, which sued the Jackson City Council and Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. for not allowing reporters to cover an Oct. 5, 2000, private retreat.
The chancellor ruled against the newspaper, saying the retreat was a social event and not required by state law to be open to the public. The newspaper plans to appeal.
Obviously, any gathering of a majority of officials on any public body has the potential to result in the formation and determination of public policy. Such officials do not have to retreat to social gatherings in order to get to know each other better.
Such events carry tremendous temptations to discuss the public's business outside the public's view and that is simply not acceptable. The public, particularly voters who put these officials in office, can not become the missing link in the process.