Torrance County Commission meeting extraordinarily polished.

I have to admit carrying preconceived notions into the meeting; I wasn't expecting fast moving, informative engaging business of county government. The meeting was chaired by Torrance County Commissioner Vanessa Chavez-Gutierrez, link.

The meeting lasted five hours, including an hours long "governance training session".

Photojournalist and blogger Mark Bralley, who has seen many more government meetings than most of the rest of us combined, stood up at public forum to tell the commission, it was one of the best run meetings he has seen.

Lest we get too gushy though, they still have it in their minds to discuss whether citizens who come to participate in county commission meetings with recording equipment of any kind, will be treated differently than those who don't. They're thinking of cordoning them off or maybe sticking them up on a platform.

Commissioner Lonnie Freyburger's motion to prohibit citizens from taping meetings was dropped on the advice of the Torrance County Attorney. The consensus of the lawyers advising the commission was, if counties taped their own meetings, citizens could "legally" be banned from creating their own recordings. Freyburger defended having made the motion in the first place, saying it was a "work in progress".

A couple of county workers spoke in favor of limiting the free exercise of the rights and responsibilities of citizens to hold their government accountable in the spending of public power and resources.

Michelle Jones, r, (who I incorrectly identified previously as Linda Kayser) seated as Torrance County Manager Joy Ansley passes by, was particularly perturbed, informing Commissioners that the cameras in the room this morning had made it "impossible for her to do her job" during the meeting.

Another, argued that camera tripods had made the safe evacuation of a room with four doors and perhaps five times that many people, so dangerous as to warrant banning tripods to some corner of the room. It was he that suggested that we might be compelled to stand on a platform.

The County Attorney suggested that others needed to weigh in; the Fire Marshall for example will be asked to balance First Amendment rights against real and imagined safety issues.

On the issue of "distraction"; County Clerk argued any citizen with a camera was distraction enough to warrant limiting legislation.

Consider a real distraction; some one in the audience yelling out or making a lot of noise. Clearly that behavior cannot be permitted.

Consider the relative distraction of someone standing quietly and peacefully with a camera, or a poster. A distraction? maybe, technically.

A distraction of the magnitude that the free exercise of constitutionally protected humans rights should be disallowed? hardly. Not even close.

Pols and public servants have an obligation to sit and take a certain amount of "abuse"; it's part of the job. How can they promise to defend the Constitution and citizen's right to petition the government, and then refuse to tolerate any petition not served to them politely and on a platter?

At issue; will the commission meet "legal" standards of transparency or ethical standards of transparency?

"Legal" standards come with fingers drawing quotation marks in the air. It means the lowest standards of acceptable conduct, further mitigated by all of the legal weaselry that "legal" loopholes and technicalities will allow. They require as little transparency as the law will allow. They are standards that allow pols and public servants to hide whatever it is they need to hide.

In stark contrast, ethical standards of conduct require as much transparency as the law will allow. Ethical standards don't require air quotes or any other qualifiers. Citizens are entitled to candor, forthrightness and honesty in response to their legitimate questions about the public interests; public power, resources, and public service.

The Torrance County Commission's mettle is being tested. When/if they vote for transparency in meetings and in public records, limited only by the law, they will have met the test.

When the question is;

does the Torrance County Commission intend to tell/show
the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the ethically
redacted truth to their constituents?

any answer except yes means, no.

No matter how polished their meetings.




photos Mark Bralley