Open is best

“Open government is good government.”

That’s the motto for Sunshine Week, the national initiative that promotes open government and freedom of information.

In Massachusetts, the Open Meeting Law (OML) requires most meetings of most public bodies be advertised in advance and the meetings must be open to the public. It also requires members of those bodies to receive OML training, so they know how to ensure the public has access to all of the information it is entitled to.

Public meetings must be advertised at least 48 hours (excluding holidays and weekends) in advance and must be open and accessible to the public.

Newton’s recent OML history

In late 2012, Mayor Setti Warren held closed-door meetings with small groups of aldermen and members of the School Committee to discuss his proposed tax overrides before presenting them formally to the public.

City Solicitor Donnalyn Kahn told the TAB that these were informational sessions where no quorums were met, so the meetings were not public and therefore not subject to the OML.

The TAB was unable file an OML complaint with the state’s attorney general (AG) because too much time had passed since the meetings. But Jeffrey Pyle, an attorney at Prince Lobel, a law firm that runs a media hotline for members of the New England Newspaper and Press Association (including the TAB) said the Open Meeting Law was "probably" broken by giving elected officials the opportunity to ask questions in private.

In June and July 2014, Newton’s School Committee met in closed-door executive sessions to discuss how it would handle reports that Superintendent David Fleishman plagiarized a commencement address from former Gov. Deval Patrick when addressing seniors at both of Newton’s high school graduations. The meetings were either not properly advertised or stated an improper reason for holding the executive session.

The TAB filed an OML complaint with the AG, whose office upheld the complaint and also ordered the School Committee to revise and make public the inadequate minutes it recorded during the closed-door meetings.

In February 2015, the Zoning Board of Appeals decided in an unadvertised, closed-door meeting that it would not discuss a particular proposed affordable housing development during an advertised, open meeting that was about to begin.

The attorney for the developer spoke up immediately and the ZBA voted to go into executive session, discussed the issue, and returned to open session to announce it would not consider the proposal.

The TAB reported the incident and afterward, the developer in question filed an OML complaint with the AG. The AG has not yet ruled on that complaint.

Going forward

Newton has more than 45 boards and committees that meet regularly and must comply with the OML. The TAB staff can’t cover them all. Residents who know or suspect a board or committee is not complying with the OML are urged to contact the TAB with that information.

Justin Silverman, of Auburndale, executive director of the New England First Amendment Coalition, said whether an OML violation is intentional or resulting from a lack of training makes little difference.

“Ultimately when it comes to the public’s right to know, it doesn’t matter,” Silverman said. ”The public’s right to know is paramount.”

Silverman said it is, in general, becoming more common for these violations to happen in the form of an email conversation among a quorum of members of a public body. The participants need not be in each others' presence to violate the law. He said violations of this kind are very difficult to uncover.

“It is of vital importance that all citizens have the ability to monitor the operations of their government,” Silverman said. “The Open Meeting Law allows the public to be present at meetings where their business is discussed. It’s an important tool for residents to have to hold their leaders accountable.”

The AG holds free OML training seminars regularly around the state aimed at members of volunteer bodies, but they are open to the general public as well. The next training is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. March 26 at the Sharon Community Center in Sharon.

“You don’t want government operating in secret,” Silverman said.

For more information about the Open Meeting Law, visit www.mass.gov/ago/openmeeting

Follow @JimMorrisonTAB on Twitter.