Kansas governor-elect can close team meetings
By The Associated Press
01.07.03
TOPEKA, Kan. — Closed meetings held by Gov.-elect Kathleen Sebelius’ government review teams were legal, a Shawnee County judge ruled yesterday.
But 14 news organizations that sued Sebelius and her transition office over the meetings appealed District Judge Eric Rosen’s decision almost immediately after it was issued.
Also, legislators expect to review the Kansas Open Meetings Act. Incoming House Speaker Doug Mays said he worries that county commissions, local school boards and other government groups can take advantage of current state law.
“I think there is a loophole there — a big loophole,” said Mays, R-Topeka. “I think it’s been utilized for years but it took this to bring attention to it.”
Sebelius formed five Budget Efficiency Savings Team groups in November to keep a campaign promise for a “top-to-bottom” review of state government.
Even though he said the teams do not fall under the meetings law, Rosen strongly rebuked Sebelius. Five teams had met a total of 18 times over four weeks, according to court testimony.
Sebelius said secret meetings would allow candid discussions.
Rosen said that argument “simply misses the point.”
“The time has long passed that critical public policy decisions can be formulated and based on privately held discussions and secret meetings that hold no one accountable,” he wrote. “Thus, had the court been provided with a legal option to do so, it would have most certainly ordered the BEST team meetings open.”
The meetings law requires government boards and commissions to have open sessions and notify the public of meetings.
Rosen concluded that while Sebelius is not merely a private individual — something the attorney general’s office had argued — she does not have the full power of a governor before her Jan. 13 inauguration.
Spokeswoman Nicole Corcoran-Basso said Sebelius is pleased Rosen drew a distinction between her being governor-elect and serving as governor.
Sebelius has said previous governors-elect in Kansas have not formed task forces to take suggestions from the public.
“We are very proud of the unprecedented input we’ve had from the public,” Corcoran-Basso said.
Mike Merriam, the attorney representing the news organizations, disagreed with Rosen and noted the Kansas Supreme Court has said the meetings law should be interpreted liberally to promote open government.
Merriam went to the Kansas Court of Appeals four hours after Rosen ruled.
Meanwhile, Mays said the House Ethics and Elections Commission will review the meetings law, and Sen. Derek Schmidt said he expects his chamber to take up the issue.
“I think this decision puts the Open Meetings Act on the agenda for this year,” said Schmidt, R-Independence.
Merriam acknowledged legislators could change the law and nullify Rosen’s ruling. But he said the Legislature probably won’t before the 30-day deadline to file an appeal — and might not approve any changes.
Jeff Burkhead, executive director of the Kansas Press Association, one of the organizations suing Sebelius, said: “We’re not willing to concede that these groups don’t fall under the Open Meetings Act.”
Paul Stevens, chief of bureau for the Associated Press in Kansas and Missouri, said the AP was heartened by Rosen’s statements about the importance of open government and his declaration that the team meetings should have been open.
“But we also worry that officials at all levels of government will take his ruling as an invitation to exclude the public from the public’s business,” Stevens said.
Sebelius argued that her transition office isn’t a government agency and, therefore, the meetings law didn’t apply to BEST teams until her inauguration.
But the news organizations noted that her transition team has Statehouse offices, the governor-elect has a state security detail and the Legislature appropriated $150,000 to cover transition expenses.
Last month, the five teams forwarded 105 ideas to Sebelius for making government more efficient or increasing fees to offset costs. Sebelius said she might include some of the ideas in the budget she submits to legislators, study others and discard some.
Sebelius later appointed a sixth team to review education, but it isn’t expected to begin meeting until after she takes office.
Joining the AP and the KPA in the lawsuit were the Kansas Association of Broadcasters, The Chanute Tribune, The Garden City Telegram, The Hays Daily News, The Hutchinson News, the Lawrence Journal-World, The Ottawa Herald, the Parsons Sun, The (Pittsburg) Morning Sun, The Salina Journal, The Topeka Capital-Journal and The Wichita Eagle.