As highway commissioners ponder the need for an
independent review of the Department of Transportation, they should
consider improving their own accountability in the open meeting process.
At the commission's last meeting, it fell below the standard set by the
state's Freedom of Information Act.
The board reportedly met in an unannounced meeting behind closed doors
between regularly scheduled meetings last month. The Greenville News
reported that the meeting included a majority of the board, though not
Commission Chairman Tee Hooper.
Commissioner Marion Carnell said the meeting wasn't improper because it
wasn't official. "We were just sitting around shooting the bull," he told
the News. "We weren't taking up new business."
Mr. Carnell is a former long-time legislator. He and many of his fellow
commissioners have been around government long enough to be aware that
meeting with a board quorum automatically qualifies as an official meeting
under state law. It strains credulity to think that board members actually
believe they can meet "informally" under any circumstances.
According to the News, the board discussed minor matters in their
"informal" session, including renaming the Earle Morris Highway in Pickens
County. But in the absence of public scrutiny intended by the open
meetings provisions of the FOIA, who can be sure?
The board clearly recognizes that the criticism by Chairman Tee Hooper
of agency operations related to Executive Director Elizabeth S. Mabry has
created a potential crisis of confidence for the agency. That was
demonstrated by the commission's decision to hire a consultant to conduct
an independent review of the agency, and by the commission's endorsement
of Mrs. Mabry's work at DOT. (As chairman, Mr. Hooper didn't vote.)
The commission's efforts for damage control are diminished, however,
when the commission itself fails to meet the standards established for
public bodies meeting to conduct the public's business and spend the
public's money. If commissioners don't recognize what constitutes a public
meeting, that is real cause for public concern.