03/11/07

Sunshine Week 2007

Citizens seek open government through lawsuits

By ERIC TUCKER
Associated Press Writer

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- After the North Kingstown school committee met last August without advertising the meeting on the secretary of state's Web site at least two days in advance, as required by state law, Melvoid Benson took notice. Then she took action.

A school committee member and a former state legislator, Benson sought the help of the attorney general's office to sue the committee for allegedly violating the state's Open Meetings Act -- which requires that agendas be posted online 48 hours ahead of the scheduled meeting.

The notice requirement, part of the state's open government laws, is intended to give citizens sufficient warning of a meeting and to prevent a public body from making last-minute changes to the agenda.

"Citizens should be well-versed on their government," Benson said. "And people who are responsible for the government should do everything possible to make sure that they are."

People routinely complain about being denied access to documents or when meetings aren't properly advertised. From 2004 to 2006, the attorney general's office received roughly 200 complaints under the state's public records and open meetings statutes. It found more than 80 violations, said Jim Lee, chief of the attorney general's civil division.

But it is only rare cases -- like Benson's -- that end up in a lawsuit because of the difficulties in proving the offending agency knowingly and willfully violated the law, Lee said. Such cases resonate now as media organizations prepare to mark the annual Sunshine Week, which begins Sunday and promotes discussion of the importance of open government and the freedom of information.

Attorney General Patrick Lynch sued the school committee on Benson's behalf last month, the third time Lynch has sued a public body. Individuals can also sue on their own and the Superior Court can impose fines for violations of open government laws. In some cases, the attorney general's office simply responds with a warning and a notice that a violation has taken place.

"I think the overwhelming majority of public bodies are doing well with it, and I think they want to do well," Lee said.

Lynch said his office had previously warned the North Kingstown school committee three times about complying with the law's notice requirements.

Superintendent James Halley said the agenda was sent to the secretary of state's Web site more than a week before the scheduled meeting, but for some reason, never made it online. He said the agenda was retransmitted before the meeting once he learned of the problem and that it had been properly advertised in other places, including the school district Web site.

In another case in 2005, the town of Barrington agreed to a $1,500 fine to settle a complaint brought on behalf a couple who couldn't get the records they needed when they tried to determine why the assessed value of their home had risen dramatically.

Lynch also sued the town of Johnston on behalf of a resident who sought a copy of a contract for the town's then-director of building operations but never received a response.

The resident, Carmine Perrotti, said he wanted to know how many hours the official was working to see if it violated terms of the man's state pension. But he only recently got the document after the attorney general's office became involved -- and after a new mayor and administration took power.

"I'm not the type of gentleman to give up, especially if I think I'm right," Perrotti said.

In North Kingstown, Halley, the superintendent, said any violation was technical rather than substantive since the session had been advertised elsewhere as required. He also said the committee, just to be safe, decided at a later meeting to reaffirm the votes they made at the August meeting that's now the subject of the lawsuit.

"The purpose of the law is that the public be informed," he said. "The purpose of the law isn't that every 'i' is dotted and every 't' is crossed. We did what we were supposed to do."

But the attorney general's office says the meeting should have been rescheduled anyway.

"Our involvement would be unnecessary had the School Committee taken the proper action and rescheduled," Lynch said in a written statement.

Perrotti said he felt stonewalled by the town, but never wanted to give up. A 73-year-old taxpayer who tries to attend every town council meeting, Perrotti said if people don't get involved, all they can do is read about in the newspaper after the fact.

"More people just have to get involved," Perrotti said. "They just have to. Because unless you are there to see, look, listen and hear what's going on, it's pretty difficult."