Here's a pop quiz for elected officials:
Why do we have laws requiring local governments to conduct business in the open?
Is it so they can hand out awards and take care of the easy stuff in full view of an adoring public? Or is it so the public can watch elected officials do the tough stuff — squirm with budget cuts and possible tax hikes, raising palpable tensions with everyone in the room?
The West Jordan City Council played its own version of "I've Got a Secret" recently at a work session attended by several members of the public. The subject dealt with the 2008-09 budget which, as in most cities right now, is a struggle between rising needs and dwindling resources. The council is likely to cut a lot and raise property taxes.
There were no microphones, and council members reportedly spoke so softly that audience members, who no doubt thought they had come to see a version of "To Tell the Truth," couldn't hear what was said. Even the official tapes of the meeting, posted on the city's Web site, require strained listening and are inaudible in parts.
Microphones normally aren't a part of such working sessions, but then the number of people who show up to watch normally is so low the council invites them to sit at the table. That's when leaders deal with the easy stuff.
If there was any doubt about the intent of all this, Mayor Dave Newton put it to rest when he told a reporter from this newspaper, "Certainly we don't want to stop the public from viewing what was going on, but that wasn't the most important part of this (meeting), in my opinion. The most important thing was for the council to discuss and weigh these decisions, because these decisions aren't easy, and it's hard when you've got an audience to do that."
Well, of course it is. But then, the money the council is trying to manage isn't really the city's money. It comes from the pockets of the people who came to watch the council and from thousands of other people who weren't there, as well.
After more than 25 years following local governments in several states, here is something I have come to know. If a city wants the public to support a general obligation bond, for a new City Hall or a police headquarters or some other thing, its leaders will personally visit newspaper offices and lobby the editorial board. They will provide fact sheets and make themselves available day or night to answer questions so the public can understand why people should vote "yes."
But when unpopular zoning decisions or tax increases come up, they become about as hard to find as a $2-a-gallon tank of gas. Many years ago, I spent most of an evening trying to find Salt Lake County leaders who, in the middle of a difficult budget session, had decided to take a "15-minute break." An hour later I found them hiding in a small room, deliberating in secret.
Here is what ought to happen: West Jordan shouldn't just make cheap audio recordings of its meetings available online. It ought to videotape all open meetings and put them on its Web site, making sure everyone is wired to a sensitive microphone. People not only need to hear them, they need to see their expressions as they deal with difficult decisions.
West Jordan is blessed with many residents who are unusually involved in their government. A bunch of them have formed a group that meets twice a week to go over the city budget and make recommendations of its own. The mayor says he welcomes their input. He wants everyone's ideas on the table. "Nobody," he said, "has the corner on new ideas."
But accepting ideas is an easy thing. It ranks up there with giving out awards. Public officials look good when they invite input from all sides. It's the deliberation, the I-think-this-program-is-more-important-than-a-raise-for-city-workers type of arguments that are the most important. That's hard stuff. It's unpleasant. And it's exactly the kind of thing about which the public should hear every word.
Jay Evensen is editor of the Deseret Morning News editorial page. E-mail: even@desnews.com