The Storm Lake Times: Opinion

Iowans say overwhelmingly: Let the sunshine in

Iowans favor more openness in government, according to a poll released last week by the Iowa Freedom of Information Council, and the numbers are so strong that legislators should line up with Gov. Terry Branstad on a bipartisan effort to satisfy the public’s demands. The poll, conducted by probably the best firm in America, shows that two-thirds of those surveyed favor the creation of a state board to handle citizen complaints concerning open meetings and public records.

More important, the results show that Iowans want to know more about how state and local government operate, not less. For example, 90% of those polled say that lists of candidates for “major” government jobs should be made public. The responses are similar to opening up access to expense reports of public officials, the terms of contracts awarded to private companies by government, and proposals that private firms submit to government soliciting work. These are things we have been arguing for over the past 21 years to no avail because legislators thought the public didn’t care. The poll proves that Iowans care very much about more transparency at city hall, the courthouse, the schoolhouse and the statehouse. In fact, 85% say open government laws are designed for the public and not just the news media.

“In every question about the tension between openness and privacy, Iowans endorse more openness,” said J. Ann Selzer, the pollster, who is considered one of the most accurate in US politics.

The poll cost $20,000 and was paid for by the Iowa Freedom of Information Council, which is housed at the Drake University School of Journalism and Mass Communications. It was supported by the Iowa Newspaper Association.

FOI Council Executive Director Kathleen Richardson explained to us that the poll — the first of its kind in the nation — was commissioned because ordinary citizens frustrated by a lack of enforcement of open-government laws turned to the FOI Council for advice and guidance. Richardson’s only autority was to try jawboning the Iowa Attorney General’s office to take some sort of action against a government entity.

Under the current law, the county attorney is supposed to enforce open-government laws. It becomes difficult when he is supposed to defend the county board of supervisors. County attorneys also tend to be more concerned with prosecuting drug dealers and thieves than prosecuting the local school board president for locking a parent out of a disciplinary hearing.

In Riverdale, Scott County, three local residents racked up a legal tab of $64,000 successfully pursuing an open-meetings claim. The district court ruled that the city had to repay the trio their expenses. It would have been cheaper for everyone to settle their dispute before the proposed board.

Hence, the suggestion for an impartial state arbiter supported by a seven-member board that would cost about $150,000 per year. The lone employee would be an attorney who could refer cases for prosecution. The bill passed the Democrat-controlled Senate last year but stalled in the Republican-controlled House despite the Republican governor’s endorsement. House members might note that 60% of Tea Party respondents support the board and believe that more government transparency is needed.

But that’s not the only improvement needed. About 30 years ago, a law was passed that keeps correspondence from citizens to public officials secret, if the citizen requests secrecy. So a film maker’s letters to the discredited Iowa Film Office never were disclosed. They are veiled in secrecy.

The secret-correspondence law was then interpreted by the courts to mean that candidates for city manager or school superintendent could be kept secret if they requested it. So you just never know what great public employee candidates never have a shot at the city manager’s or superintendent’s job because they’ve been blackballed by a spiteful or lazy head hunter. If we are paying for the head hunter, we should have access to his work product.

Iowa has a long and progressive tradition of transparency in government. We were the first state with open meetings and open records law. We were the second state, behind Florida, to allow cameras in the courtroom. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has been a leading national advocate for more transparency in the courts.

The poll reflects that tradition. If legislative leaders want to head into the next election claiming a bipartisan victory for the people of Iowa, creating this board would be considered a major accomplishment for a relatively painless cost. The bill itself could act as a shell to contain other provisions that open up government — such as by finally making those candidates for job openings public, and forcing local city councils and boards of supervisors to quit meeting secretly under phony pretenses such as “discussing matters in litigation” or to discuss the purchase or sale of real estate when they’re really talking about buying a fire truck or firing the janitor. We cannot legislate honesty and openness, but we can try.