Fine tuning the Open Meetings Act, will provide 72 hrs notice.

Republican State Rep Jim Smith and Democrat State Senator
Daniel Ivey-Soto have collaborated in a bipartisan response to
the demand for better open meetings law.



They propose, link, extending notice for public meetings by requiring meeting agendas to be published 72 hours before a meeting.

The current minimum of 24 hours is routinely abused by pols and public servants whose need is to make it difficult for stakeholders to attend meetings.  Ideally, agendas would be posted "as built" with a minimum of 72 hrs.

To thwart politicians and public servants who like to skirt the law by declaring "emergencies", Ivey-Soto and Smith's add some teeth to the law;

Within five days of taking action on an emergency matter, the public body shall report to the attorney general's office the action taken and the circumstances creating the emergency.

Ouch.

If I were King, we would insist that the law would require public meeting agendas to include a venue where the people are guaranteed an opportunity to freely exercise their Constitutionally protected human rights to assemble, speak, and to deliver their petition for redress; a public forum.

The right time to do the right thing is always right now. unk




photo Mark Bralley