Pffft! That’s the sound a lame excuse makes when it’s going up in smoke.
The lame excuse that went away was the “willful ignorance defense” to violations of the Idaho Open Meeting Law. A companion excuse that simultaneously went away is the prosecutor’s declination to prosecute because the public official/violator claims s/he didn’t know the law.
After reviewing the Idaho Supreme Court decision State of Idaho v Yzaguirre, I sent a suggestion to the Idaho Attorney General. The suggestion was to create a statewide mandatory training program for all public officials. Require them to attend courses teaching the Idaho Open Meeting Law, the Idaho Public Records Law, and the Idaho Ethics in Government Law.
Today I received a letter from AG Wasden’s office telling me that the AG had worked with the Idahoans for Open Government (IDOG) to create a DVD for Idaho city and county officials, school districts, and media. Five hundred copies of the DVD were distributed in January. The DVD covers the Idaho Open Meeting Law and the Public Records Law. (I can’t claim any credit for this, because clearly it was being done before my February communication with the AG’s office.)
So to the Coeur d’Alene Mayor and City Council, the Lake City Development Corporation, the Coeur d’Alene School District 271 trustees, and the North Idaho College trustees … pffft!
But, does the existence/distribution of this DVD put the legal onus on the officials to learn and abide by the open meeting laws or can they claim stupidity by not being able to operate a DVD player?
Comment by Wallypog — March 13, 2008 @ 12:47 pm
Wallypog,
Of course, our public officials could just lock the DVD away in a drawer somewhere and then say, “Well, we’re trying to write an RFP to an Oregon contractor to develop a training course in the use of DVD players.” They could then claim to be in the process of developing a course to deliver the OML/OPRL training, and our Kootenai County Prosecutor would probably give them a pass.
In case your question was serious, I’d say the timely delivery of the DVD coupled with the years of availability of the manuals shift the burden of proof to the accused. Then again, this is Idaho …
Comment by Bill — March 13, 2008 @ 12:53 pm
Bill, nice job on the photos of the pamphlets. They are short and easy to read. They’re available to anyone, for free. Just go to the Attorney General’s web site and leave your name–they’ll gladly send them to you. Maybe Bill will add the link, since I haven’t learned how to do that yet.
Comment by mary — March 13, 2008 @ 1:43 pm
Mary, thanks. The links to the online manuals have been added. If someone wants hard copies, here’s the contact for the Attorney General’s Office.
Comment by Bill — March 13, 2008 @ 2:10 pm
Thanks Bill. Everyone that wants these should click on Bill’s link to the Attorney General’s Office, then click “Publications” in the left-hand menu. Then click “Idaho Open Meeting Law”.
Comment by mary — March 13, 2008 @ 5:19 pm
We have an Idaho Open Meeting Law expert here in Coeur d’Alene, former State Representative Gary Ingram. If anyone knows Mr. Ingram, please try to get him to weigh in on
this subject in this forum.
Comment by doubleseetripleeye — March 13, 2008 @ 6:23 pm
doubleseetripleeye,
Great suggestion! His commentary and knowledge would be welcome.
Comment by Bill — March 13, 2008 @ 6:40 pm
Maybe another “expert” could weigh in as well – for instance – Allen Derr, who on the Idaho Press Club’s site is represented as an “At-Large Representative.”
Comment by Stebbijo — March 13, 2008 @ 6:59 pm