THE ISSUE: Gov. Sanford and open government

OUR OPINION: From cabinet to Commerce,

Sanford taking positive steps for democracy

Governor, cabinet step into the open

By T&D Staff

The governor made the right decision. Mark Sanford promised open government when he took over in Columbia. He took a lot of heat in deciding to close meetings of his cabinet to the press, contending that the assemblage of his agency heads could do its work better behind closed doors and then report to press and public. The governor went to so far as to equate the process to making sausage, saying people really don't need to see the behind-the-scenes working of government.

On Wednesday, citizens got to see sausage being made. As announced on Tuesday, Sanford decided to change course on the cabinet sessions and open them to the public. Today's T&D (Page 5A) includes a report on the meeting.

The decision is important, in that getting public bodies and public employees to follow the state's Freedom of Information Act is more difficult than it should be. Not infrequently have we heard public officials express beliefs similar to those initially espoused by Sanford about the need to conduct business in private and then bring the public up to speed on what has been done.

That's not the law and it shouldn't be. The state's lawmakers wrote the FOIA to ensure that public officials, including the Legislature itself, conduct business in the open. For example, no votes can be taken in a closed meeting.

Reality is that "votes" are taken in private, whether they are formal or not. Decisions are made with the later public vote being nothing more than a formality.

The South Carolina Press Association, the organization of the state's daily and weekly newspapers, and others formally asked Sanford to reconsider. In a resolution passed in February, the SCPA stated, "Failure to comply with the open meeting requirements of the Freedom of Information Act will ultimately lead to widespread disregard of the law by public officials throughout the state of South Carolina to the detriment of the people and their democracy."

The governor decided not be party to such a result.

"I'd be willing to sacrifice a more effective - perhaps - and more lively Cabinet meeting on the altar of what I believe to be the greater good, which is openness in government," Sanford said.

We commend the governor - and note that another of his key agencies is setting about making good on shedding light on its business. Long the most secretive of operations and exempted specifically from some provisions of the FOIA, the Commerce Department under Secretary Bob Faith is vowing changes.

In inviting the media to hear details of his plans on Thursday, Faith said a key component will be revealing incentive information when projects are publicly announced in South Carolina. The secretary says he will not wait for legislators to mandate such, acknowledging that the information should be made public under current laws.

Incentive money and tax breaks are decisions by public officials involving public dollars. No amount of argument about the need for secrecy in recruiting industry can justify not telling taxpayers about the deal once it is complete.

"The public should always know how its money is being spent," Faith says. "As we move forward with a renewed focus on economic development and continue to explore creative new approaches to building a better business climate in South Carolina, it's absolutely critical that our efforts be open to the taxpayer. It's time we opened up this process so that everyone can understand how South Carolina's economy works for them," Faith says.

Sanford said, "I applaud Bob for taking a big step toward open and accountable government in South Carolina." So do we.

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