It’s time to acknowledge violation

We are calling, again, on Jay County Commissioners to acknowledge their error.

On July 31, the Indiana’s Public Access Counselor issued an advisory opinion in relation to a formal complaint filed by The Commercial Review against the commissioners. It was the belief of this newspaper that the commissioners violated Indiana’s Open Door Law by discussing the county’s proposed contract with Jay County Development Corporation during an “administrative meeting” on May 2.

The newspaper laid out the reasons for that assertion in its complaint. Provided with a copy of the complaint by the public access counselor’s office, commissioners had the opportunity to respond.

The public access counselor, who is appointed by the governor and as part of his job “provides advice and assistance concerning Indiana’s public access laws,” then weighed the complaint, the response and state law.

In the conclusion of his advisory opinion, Indiana Public Access Counselor Luke Britt said: “It is the opinion of this office that discussions or negotiations of unexecuted contracts is not appropriate for an administrative function meeting.”

Upon receipt of the public access counselor’s opinion, The Commercial Review reached out to both Jay County Commissioners’ president and the county attorney. They did not return calls requesting comment. That is their right.

We hoped, however, that at their next meeting they would finally acknowledge their error, apologize and make a commitment to conducting the public’s business in public.

They did not, just as they chose not to acknowledge the misstep when pushed by this newspaper to do so three months ago.

We’ve been asked by some members of the public if we will file a lawsuit against commissioners regarding the May 2 meeting. We have no plans to do so. (It would make sense to file a lawsuit if there were documents or other public information being withheld. That is not the case in this situation.) The maximum fine is $100.

The purpose of the public access counselor’s office is not punishment. The goal, rather, is compliance.

That was our goal in filing the formal complaint as well. We wanted an official opinion confirming that the commissioners were, in fact, in violation of state law. Having received that official opinion, we now want to make sure it does not happen again.

An important part of that process is commissioners acknowledging their error and making a commitment moving forward.

To be clear, the commissioners don’t owe an apology to the newspaper. They owe one to you, the voters and the taxpayers, for violating Indiana’s Open Door Law.

They violated the public’s trust. It’s beyond time to make amends. — R.C.