Originally published: . Volume 12, No. 4. Source pages: 2.
In her opinion piece last month, current LSBEP Chair, Dr. Amy Henke, voiced her complaints about the community, including criticizing the belief that the board is not transparent enough. She argued that this belief was false because, "All board meetings are public, with the exception of confidential matters related to licensing files, complaints, legal strategy in current or pending lawsuits, or personnel. Notices, agendas, and minutes from board meetings are also publicly posted on the LSBEP website." I’ve been having run-ins with the board about transparency for over a decade, starting years ago when then chair Joe Comaty threatened me with an ethics complaint after I asked him a question at a conference. At one point the board even passed an Opinion that they couldn’t answer my news-related questions unless the board met first. And then there’s been the ongoing battle over the "secret Act 251 memo."
I have no doubt that Amy believes her board is being transparent, and that she is trying her best. But culture impacts people invisibly, so I’ll give her some of my "facts" to consider. Agendas: The agendas contain the topics, that is true. However, they only go out a day or two before the meeting and a topic can be added at what is, to most people, the last minute. In practical terms, the public cannot get the information in time to respond to a new topic that is of importance to them. And, having been to many meetings, it's common for the board to go off the topic, deviating from the agenda anyway. Minutes: There are two huge problems with minutes. One, the minutes aren't available on time. For example, as I write this, on March 30, 2021, the last available minutes are from December 2020. The public has 60 days to respond to a decision by the board, and this delay makes that right of the public almost impossible to exercise. Secondly, the minutes give only the bare minimum, and rarely the substance. Minutes have been sanitized and truncated. This is especially true when the board doesn't want to disclose what it's doing. The idea that the board has been transparent about their legislation is simply not true. In the fall of 2019 they said they were going to manage their problems through rulemaking. Then they surprised the community with legislation right before the legislative session. This meant they had to have been working on the legislation behind the scenes. It amounted to a bait and switch. They did the same thing this year, claiming that they had discussed it fully, but attendees to the meetings did not hear that topic and the minutes were not available nor complete. There was never a vote taken before the legislation was written. There is a difference between the spirit and the letter of things when it comes to transparency. On March 29, a few days after the newest draft of the LSBEP legislation had been displayed at the board's public meeting on the 26th, I requested a copy. What I got was a very polite response, packed with irrelevant detail, basically directing me that I could file a formal open records request. Here it is, in case you've never tried this before. "Good evening Julie, I am well and hope you are also. I will be happy to provide you with a copy of “the draft legislation that was presented in the public meeting on Friday”. Since the Board meets every Friday, and we have discussed legislation drafts at several Friday meetings, I do not want to assume you mean only this past Friday, March 26, 2021. So for clarification and fee purposes, the following records that meet your description are available following a search through the previous 6 months: 1.
Draft legislative changes reviewed and considered by the Board on Friday March 26, 2021 total 6 pages for a cost of $2.25; Draft legislative amendments to SB No.458 of the 2020 Regular Session considered by the Board on Friday, February 19, 2021, total 31 pages for a cost of $8.50; and A draft was also reviewed at the Long Range Planning Board Meeting on Thursday and Friday, January 28-29, 2021 totaling 28 pages for a cost of $7.75.
These records are available in paper or an electronic .pdf copy may be sent via email. Copy costs are required in the amount of $1 for the first page and $.25 for each page thereafter. Should you want all three drafts mentioned above the total cost for 65 pages would be $17. Should you require records beyond the immediate 6 months, please let me know and I will conduct an additional search for such records. Please mail your payment and formal public records request to the official office address of the Board at 4334 S. Sherwood Forest Boulevard, Suite C-150, Baton Rouge, LA 70816." By the time I finish this process, the damn bill will have been filed. Authentic transparency would be a, "Here's a copy. Send us 20 bucks." Real transparency requires a spirit of openness and the willingness to risk shared power.
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