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We work as agents of openness on behalf of you
Letter from the Editor Dear Reader, MLive doesn’t have a newspaper in Traverse City, and does not routinely cover news out of that area.
So why are we joining a lawsuit that the newspaper there, the Record-Eagle, is fighting against the local school system?
Because the outcome of that suit could do long-lasting damage to openness and transparency in the communities we do serve, where you live and pay taxes and deserve accountable government.
The case centers around secrecy and open meetings. Michigan law sets guidelines for what government meetings can be closed, and mandates that minutes from closed meetings be kept secret unless a court orders them open to the public.
The Traverse City school board carried an employment record of a fired superintendent into a closed meeting, then argued it was part of the meeting minutes and no longer subject to a public records search.
The Record-Eagle is arguing, and we agree, that violates the Freedom of Information and Open Meetings acts. We are joining several other media companies, the Michigan Press Association and a public policy group in an amicus brief in the case.
If the Appeals Court rules in favor of the school district, it would amount to an “effective green light for elected officials to tote just about any record into a closed session, staple it to closed-session minutes, and in doing so exempt the records from disclosure,” said Lisa McGraw, public affairs manager for the MPA.
At MLive, we have always taken our job as a watchdog seriously. Year in and year out, the unseen grist of what we do is getting access to public information so we can examine the decisions and actions of public servants and agencies, and then hold them accountable. Not to us, but to you.
We have showed that in stories all over the state this year.
In Ann Arbor earlier this month, the police department released discipline records for officers after a six-month FOIA campaign by reporter Ryan Stanton. It was information even the city’s Police Oversight Commission had not been able to get.
“We are very happy that the persistence of MLive reporting resulted in this information being released,” said Lisa Jackson, oversight commission chairwoman.
Just this week in Kalamazoo, MLive reporter Brad Devereaux used FOIA to get documents that showed that city officials misled the public over the departure this September of the city police chief. Announced as a “retirement,” documents showed the chief actually was fired – and that designation allowed her to get a six-figure severance she would not have received if she had in fact retired.
Also in Kalamazoo, Devereaux reported in November that city commissioners have for years met in small groups in order to skirt Open Meetings requirements that official deliberations occur in the public eye. The commission is reconsidering that practice in the wake of our reporting.
This spring, as the pandemic was changing how governments do business, MLive reporter Michael Kransz noted that the Grand Rapids City Commission wasn’t allowing public comment in virtual meetings. The Michigan Attorney General agreed that this was a violation of the OMA. The city never acknowledged it was in the wrong, but it did offer public comment at virtual meetings going forward.
Government belongs to you; you want it to be effective and responsive. We work as agents of openness on behalf of you; the FOIA and OMA laws are our tools.
When there is a threat to our ability to use those tools, as there is in Traverse City, we’re going to step up and fight.
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In February, I had the privilege of sitting down with Helen Pentz, then 98, in her nursing home near Grand Rapids. Helen had voted in every election since FDR, and I wrote a column sharing her wisdom about being informed, open-minded and participating faithfully in civics. That message resonated with many of you, so I wanted to share this note I received from her son Dale Hotelling:
I am thankful for Helen adding a touch of grace to a difficult year. You can read her obituary here.
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Editor's note: I value your feedback to my columns, story tips and your suggestions on how to improve our coverage. Let me know how MLive helps you, and how we can do better. Please feel free to reach out by emailing me at editor@mlive.com.
John Hiner Executive Editor Vice President of Content Mlive Media Group
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