Public Officials Don't Want Open Government

In response to the ongoing controversy regarding Matt Blunt's office policy of destroying public records as well as our report of O'Fallon's similar policy, State Rep Jeff Roorda D-Barnhart has proposed mandatory training classes for public officials regarding the Sunshine Law. Roorda explained “Public officials have been able to claim ignorance for too long. Some elected officials are making a mockery of the Sunshine law. The law is intended to be a protection for our citizens against a corrupt government; instead, it has given them one more thing to be corrupt about."

We applaud Roorda's efforts but the fact is public officials know they are violating the law. They continue to do so because nothing happens to them and our elected officials charged with enforcing the law do nothing. There is no better example of this than O'Fallon.

While Paul Renaud was mayor of O'Fallon the city continually violated the Sunshine Law and the law regarding retention of public records. Under Renaud the city routinely deleted emails, "lost" public records, held meetings without notice, failed to record votes and operated in a cloak of secrecy. When the city mistakenly released emails they intended to illegally delete we learned the biggest reason public officials don't comply with the law; they don't want us to know what they are doing.

When Renaud left office in 2005 new mayor Donna Morrow took over with a promise of open and transparent government. She has not followed through. Under Morrow O'Fallon continues to destroy public records and the city discourages citizens from requesting documents by illegally charging residents exorbitant fees.

Randy Turner addressed the issue in his blog today and pointed out a simple solution:

-If you violate the law, you have committed a crime, whether it was done knowingly or not.

-Make the fines heftier and even add the possibility of jail time in egregious cases.

I would add that we then need the Attorney General and local prosecuting attorneys to enforce the law. Public officials don't need to be taught they need to be punished.