July Editorial Winner

Council has shot at true transparency

By Michael Clements, Durant Democrat

The Durant City Council has an opportunity to keep a promise that several councilmembers made when they ran for office. That is to be more transparent than their predecessors.

The Council will consider a couple of resolutions during a special meeting this coming Monday. If approved, those resolutions will officially start the search for a new City Manager. Information the Council will take action on includes an official job description, outline of his or her qualifications and an outline of the search process.

The Council should carefully consider one resolution in particular.

So far, the new council appears to have violated the Open Meeting law at least twice. We don’t believe that anyone intended to violate the law, or the public trust. But intent is not part of the crime.

Now, after twice apparently operating outside the bounds of the law, the council will consider legally operating in secret. Just because something is legal doesn’t mean it’s advisable.

The Council will consider a resolution put forth by the City Manager Association of Oklahoma to commit to keeping its list of applicants secret. According to the resolution, quality candidates might pass on applying out of fear their current employers might retaliate against their perceived disloyalty. Indeed, the resolution claims that secrecy is actually in the public’s best interest.

“The interest of the public is protected in the selection process by the involvement of an elected body that represents the interest of the municipality and the public in the selection process,” the resolution reads. The apparent logic is that keeping the applicant’s identity secret protects his interests, which apparently protects the city’s interests and, in turn, protects the taxpayers by ensuring only the best applicants apply. Never mind that there is no actual data to back this up, just trust the politicians and the head hunting firms when they tell you that what you don’t know is actually good for you.

Keeping that information secret means that citizens can’t do their own research. It means that they won’t truly know if the best applicants were selected. It means that the taxpayers are at the mercy of a process that shuts out the majority that pays the bills to protect the minority that presents the bills.

City Councils are not elected to look out for the interests of public employee hopefuls or their professional organizations. It is a City Council’s job to protect the interests of taxpayers. And it takes a bit of hubris to make the claim that keeping secrets from taxpayers is actually good for the taxpayers.

The City of Norman recently hired a new City Manager after making public its list of six finalists. The City of Norman is still in operation, the world is still spinning on its axis and life is moving ahead as before.

The Durant City Council should consider that. Complying with the law is good, but going beyond what the law requires, especially in the wake of two apparent violations, can be a first step in building trust.