Let the sun shine on government functions

This week, March 16-22, is Sunshine Week, an effort to shine a light on the importance of public records and open government.

Sunshine Week is a nonpartisan collaboration of journalistic, civic, education, government and private-sector groups to highlight the importance of government records being available to the public and government meetings being open to the public.

Wyoming has Sunshine Laws mandating government transparency and accountability already in place. These laws include measures regarding open meetings, freedom of information and public notice requirements.

The American Society of Newspaper Editors, with the support of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, started the week-long observance in 2005 to coincide with James Madison’s birthday, March 16. Madison is known as the father of open government.

Democracy will only remain strong as long as its citizens have access to a range of information that allows them to know what their government officials are doing and then to hold them accountable.

Officials at all levels of Wyoming government -- elected, appointed or hired -- have an obligation to understand and comply with the requirements for transparency in their actions. These measures are not nebulous suggestions. They are the law.

In fact, just last week, four members of the Evanston City Council were found to have violated the Wyoming Open Meetings Act that states, in part, “Communication outside a meeting, including, but not limited to sequential communications among the members of an agency, shall not be used to circumvent the purpose of this act.”

Action taken at a meeting not in conformity with the act is “null and void and not merely voidable.”

The Evanston city attorney found the council had participated in a meeting that should have been open to the public, but wasn’t.

No action has been taken against those council members to this point. However, the civil penalty for violation of the act is a $750 fine per individual and those involved could be subject to suspension.

It is imperative for the citizenry to understand the rights we have to demand transparency from our government officials and to hold those officials accountable. Government works best when it is open and transparent and available for all to see.

Let the sun shine.