The D&C has a good opinion piece today about the merits of open government, something that is very much on our minds in the wake of the closed county lej meeting on the public defender last week:

These should be passed and signed into law:

# Authorize courts to invalidate action when substantial deliberations occurred in secret in violation of the Open Meetings Law.

# Require award of attorney’s fees when substantial deliberations or votes occurred in secret.

If these amendments had been in force last week, would Monroe County government have acted as it did in selecting the public defender?

Related posts:

1. Public Defender meetings violate the State Open meeting law
2. Activists Push Pittsford for Open Government
3. Profiles in open government….not
4. Palumbo on public defender scandal
5. Creating an Authority isn’t government consolidation