Hiding from the light

What do your local government officials have to hide? Apparently something; otherwise, why would their lobbyists in Olympia be opposing a bill to require government councils, boards and commissions merely to keep a recording of their closed, executive sessions?

The bipartisan tag team of Republican Attorney General Rob McKenna and Democratic Auditor Brian Sonntag are proposing a simple bill that will clear up suspicion and concern that has surrounded closed government proceedings.

Under state law, municipal governments can go into closed session to consider a handful of sensitive issues, including those relating to personnel, real-estate deals and litigation. But they are not required to keep minutes or recordings of these meetings.

Too often, members of the public suspect officials use the cover of executive session to discuss controversial issues that should be discussed in public.

Sonntag's office has heard from dozens of citizens concerned about the appropriateness of specific closed meetings held by local government boards, a spokeswoman said. And, often, there is disagreement about what was said in executive session.

Remember the Port of Seattle's he-said-she-said tangle over what was discussed regarding the former Port director's retirement package? A recording would have cleared up who was not telling the truth.

Under the jointly requested bill, local elected officials would have to record their closed sessions. Those recordings would remain closed unless a member of the public could persuade a judge the recording should be reviewed to determine whether the executive-meetings rules were violated. Only after a judge determines the rule was broken would it be made public.

So, what's the big deal? You would think that elected officials would be all for this. In a controversy, they could prove to a judge they did not go too far afield in their discussions. And new council or school board members would be able to listen to the recordings to come up to speed on issues.

Yet, many oppose it. The Association of Washington Cities legislative agenda vows to "strongly defend against" this bill.

McKenna and Sonntag should be commended for taking on an issue that is unpopular with many locally elected officials. We hope the Legislature will care as much about government accountability as McKenna and Sonntag do.