Open meetings times need to be convenient for public

Open meetings of governmental agencies, by their nature, need to be accessible to members of the general public. It is the law, of course, but beyond that, governmental decisions simply need to be made in the public eye in order to stymie corruption and allow our democracy to operate.

In that spirit, we would encourage all local boards to meet at times most convenient for members of the general public to attend. In some cases, this likely would mean conducting regular meetings outside of regular working hours, possibly on weekday evenings.

Iowa code requires meetings of government agencies, boards and other bodies to take place with at least a 24-hour notice and to remain open for anyone to attend unless a specific provision (i.e. discussion of a legal matter, employee evaluation) allows a closed door meeting.

The spirit of Iowa open meetings law is to “let the sunshine in” on government as much as possible and in that spirit governing bodies must make every effort to ensure meetings are scheduled when they are convenient for the public to attend.

Take the county government for example: The Jasper County Board of Supervisors typically conducts weekly meetings at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesdays. While this time is undoubtedly convenient for county staff and the supervisors themselves, a typical working person in the county likely would need to take off of work simply to attend the meeting. Perhaps a 5:30 p.m. starting time might allow more people to attend, if they so choose.

The Skiff Medical Center Board of Trustees would do well to schedule meetings at a time when people in the community who work could attend, rather than their typical morning meetings.

With the ongoing belief by some in the community that the board is operating in a deliberately evasive manner — whether a fair perception or not — it would help the hospital board immensely to conduct meetings at a time when more people could attend. Not only would this “let the sunshine in,” but it would be an indication that the board is encouraging public input. Likewise, the hospital board would be wise to allow a time during meetings for public input.