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| Wednesday, Feb 26, 2003 |
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Posted on February 26, 2003 Closed meetings draw more criticism COLUMBIA -- Gov. Mark Sanford's decision to close Cabinet meetings to the public has drawn criticism from the Society of Professional Journalists. Sanford kept reporters and cameras out of his first Cabinet meeting two weeks ago, saying afterward the media "adds little value to the actual sausage-making process. For me, disclosure is all about after ... debate, after ideas have been kicked around, you come up with a final product. Then let's talk about it." But that stance is drawing criticism. "You might think the public doesn't need -- or want -- to see how decisions are made," Holly Fisher, the state Society of Professional Journalists' open meetings chairwoman, told Sanford in a letter. "Yet how can the citizens of your state be informed? How can they make decisions about voting? How can they be confident in your abilities as governor if you exclude them from the discussion?" Governors have the power to set standards that school boards and public bodies follow, Fisher wrote. "That is a great responsibility, so don't let this incident overshadow your past and future accomplishments," she wrote. Sanford's office did not immediately respond to Fisher's letter. On Monday, Sanford defended his stance before a national audience during a C-SPAN interview from the National Governors Association meeting in Washington. Sanford said he had spoken with a number of governors and had "yet to find a person who has an open Cabinet meeting." "If you really want to have a fruitful working meeting, whether in business, or whether in your home or whether in politics, it's probably not in that instance best to have five cameras sitting at the other end of the table." But governors in nine states -- Colorado, Florida, Montana, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Wyoming -- have open Cabinet meetings, according to the Council of State Governments in Lexington, Ky. Cabinet meetings in Alaska are open unless an executive session is called, according to the council's Book of the States. Sanford said the Alaska Supreme Court ruled in favor of the governor, saying it was important to close the meetings to have a candid conversation among Cabinet members. John Manly, a spokesman for Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski, said he could recall no court ruling to that effect. However, Alaska's Cabinet meetings are traditionally closed, he said. |
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