
Kylee Gauna/Cronkite News
State Sen. Sylvia Allen, R-Snowflake, shown in a 2011 photo, says her service on the five-member Navajo County Board of Supervisors left her thinking that Arizona’s open meeting law is too restrictive. She authored a bill to allow members of elected boards to meet out of the public eye unless they are preparing to take action.
2 comments on this story
Here’s what will happen if this law passes. Elected officials will be able to arrange and coordinate their votes in secret prior to any action. When voting for said action they will not have to explain themselves, thereby keeping their reasoning secret. As a 33 year veteran journalist, I can assure you that this already goes at times even with current open meeting and public record laws, due to the fact that not every public body fully understands or follows the law even as it is today. If you make it more loose, public officials and public bodies absolutely will leave the public in the dark about public business as often as they possibly can. The proposed changes are undemocratic.
The people backing this law should be investigated….sounds like they have a lot to hide