Village Continues on Path of Opacity The Village of Dundee has pulled the official minutes of the Dundee Village Council meetings from The Independent newspaper. On Monday, Oct. 27, The Independent sent Interim Village Manager David W. Uhl a reminder that The Independent should be notified of any special meeting conducted by the Village, at the same time it is required by law to post such notice (18 hours before a special meeting). This was sent because The Independent had received a notice of a special meeting by Dundee Community Schools to interview applicants for an open school board seat, and the editor realized that the new Interim Village Manager might not know about the need to notify the newspaper when special meetings are called. By law, any news media in the entire state can request that any public body notify them about a special meeting being held. The next day, Mr. Uhl send out an email stating that the Village will no longer publish the Village Council Meeting Minutes in The Independent. Interim Village Manager David W. Uhl sent out an email on Tuesday, Oct. 28 stating that “pursuant to the Open Meetings Act,” the Village will no longer print the Village Council Meeting Minutes in “any newspaper.” The full official minutes will be posted on the Village website and at the Village Hall. A synopsis of the minutes will be available at the library and at the water treatment office. The Village Council never discussed pulling the Council Meeting Minutes from the newspaper. Mr. Uhl did not indicate whose decision this was. It is unclear if Mr. Uhl is now making unilateral executive decisions, as an unelected paid administrator. The Open Meetings Act doesn’t have a specific requirement for the minutes to be published in the newspaper, but the Dundee Village Council has always published them in the local newspaper, as an efficient and cost effective way of making sure that everyone has easy access to them. This is common practice. Is there a financial hit to The Independent because the Village Council Minutes have been pulled? Yes, there is, but it is a small portion of our revenue and an even tinier percentage of the overall Dundee Village budget. Even so, it is apparently not worth even this small expenditure by the Village to honor the public trust. Freedom of the Press Newspapers have always been the primary fighters to keep America’s government accountable to the people, by battling to keep government records open to the citizens. This is such a fundamental right, that the founders of this great country specified “Freedom of the Press in the First Amendment of the Constitution. As Americans, we have the right to Freedom of Speech and the people of the United States have the right to publish news without government interference. Impact to Taxpayers The change in policy means that the Village of Dundee is being less transparent and accountable to the taxpayers, residents and business owners in the Village. It speaks to the issue of the officials’ credibility and legitimacy, now that they can manipulate and change that information after the fact, if they wish. There will be no verifiable, third-party, unchangeable printed historical record of the Village Council decisions and votes. Village officials are well aware that most taxpayers will not remember, or take the time, to seek out the Village Council Minutes on the Village website, nor will they remember or make a special trip to find the printed versions at the Village Hall, library or water treatment plant, let alone print them out and save them for future reference. In addition, the Village putting the Minutes online is not permanent, because online documents can be hacked, altered, and are subject to computer hardware and software failures, not mention vulnerable to larger system problems. The recent federal government HealthCare.gov rollout is evidence that government websites can have serious problems. The decision to pull the Village Council Minutes follows the Council’s decision earlier this year to terminate the then-Village Manager without giving taxpayers and residents any reason for that action. Now that the Village has started an onslaught against transparency, it remains to be seen how much farther the Village will attempt to pull down the curtains on its activities. What the Village does impacts the lives and pocketbooks of the taxpayers and residents every day. The Village taxpayers and residents have been kept informed about Village Council actions because The Independent has been at the Council meetings, and has reported those actions in the newspaper— for the past 27 years. As the legal newspaper of record for the community, The Independent has proudly done its job objectively and thoroughly. We will continue to do so, going forward.—Tanya Whitaker, Editor, The Independent
Posted on: Tue, 11 Nov 2014 03:52:02 +0000