A full house welcomed panelist Jess Clark, Deborah Yetter, Amye Bensenhaver, and moderator Dr. Wayne Tuckson to the Louisville League of Women Voters' “Democracy in Action” series on March 17, St. Patrick's Day.
The discussion focused on increasing assaults on the public’s right to know. The gathering was especially timely. It coincided with day two of Sunshine Week, unprecedented levels of political “blarney” about the virtues of transparency coming from Frankfort's least transparent lawmakers, and disturbing developments in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Tuckson lead the discussion with charm, wit, and his own brand of "blarney," seamlessly shifting the discussion's focus from the past to the present and back. A retired physician and current host on Kentucky Educational Television, he described his past work as a colo-rectal surgeon as the kind of work that "never saw the light of day" in a moment of levity.
Little did I know when I watched a segment of KET's "Kentucky Health" examining Alpha-gaI Syndrome -- you don't want to know -- last Sunday that I would work with the host the following day.
https://ket.org/pressroom/release/kentucky-health-explores-alpha-gai-sy…
Jess Clark, a skilled open records practitioner in her role as education reporter for Louisville Public Media, described frustration with Jefferson County Public Schools that have landed her, and LPM, in court over access to communications exchanged by top JCPS officials during the August 9, 2023, "transportation fiasco." That access dispute has been rivaled only by her first foray into a federal Freedom of Information request that resulted in a year long wait.
https://www.lpm.org/news/2024-03-25/audit-reveals-jcps-botched-transpor…
Two times Pulitzer Prize-winning Courier Journal investigative reporter Deborah Yetter took us inside her epic open records legal battle with the Cabinet for Health and Family Services for child fatality or near fatality records that began in 1994 and ended in 2015, and yielded long overdue reform. Her message? We cannot afford to look away as Kentucky continues to struggle with this ongoing tragedy.
https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/2022/11/15/courier-journal-d…
Still suffering from the undiagnosed malaise that prevented me from testifying against House Bill 520 in its House Standing State Government Committee hearing a few weeks ago, I'm not entirely sure what I talked about. I described the challenges of the merit assistant attorney general in an increasingly politicized office -- as the retired civil division director who hired me looked on from the front row -- and the growing perception in Frankfort that institutional knowledge and expertise are a liability rather than an asset.
I described this year's unsuccessful effort to defeat HB 520 -- relating to law enforcement records -- and how it compared to last year's successful efforts to defeat HB 509 -- codifying the legally unsupportable agency view that public officials can evade the open records law by using private devices and accounts. Focusing on the role of politics in attorney general dispute resolution, a recalcitrant legisislature, and the court as the last bulwark for Kentucky's open government laws, I concluded with a plea to preserve a still robust open records and meetings law.
The extended question and answer period focused on what individual concerned citizens can do to secure our laws. No new or novel insights there other than use the law and learn its value, call your legislator to support or oppose bills under consideration, support local media, and make your voice most loudly heard at the polls.
On a positive note, I shared my enthusiasm for the Sunshine Week recognition I had already observed -- the Lexington Herald-Leader's reporting on public university defiance of open records and meetings laws, its publication of my op-ed, the League of Women Voters and its efforts to expose secrecy in the legislative process, as well as the evening’s gathering.
‘Culture of resistance to transparency’: Kentucky universities regularly break open records law
https://www.kentucky.com/news/local/education/article301651319.html
It’s Sunshine Week, and Kentucky is going backwards on government transparency | Opinion
https://www.kentucky.com/opinion/op-ed/article302209569.html
https://www.lwvky.org/how-can-they-do-that
(Take note. The Herald Leader is batting 1000 with today’s Linda Blackford editorial: From Medicaid changes to sexual predators, KY’s public servants are addicted to secrecy
https://www.kentucky.com/opinion/linda-blackford/article302227304.html)
I also celebrated the support open government laws enjoy across the political spectrum — the common ground that unites us — observing that the only group that opposes the laws is the group that consists of elected and appointed public officials of all political stripes — I guess their resentment of the law unites them, too.
Louisville League of Women Voters President Gail Henson described the evening’s discussion as “generative.” The attendees were warm, welcoming, and very enthusiastic. An energizing gathering for all.
As the sun set behind me, I drove back to Frankfort, shrouded in darkness as I arrived, and pondered the heavy handed symbolism of the moment.
