County meeting recordings

First, my apologies to the SEMissouruian.com reader/poster named Mobushwhacker. I'm the reason your comment on the story about recording open meetings disappeared -- I went into the file to add the video and transcript and in the process whacked the comment box. I'll try to fix this today.

In the meantime, feel free to comment here.

There seem to be some gray areas about when economic development moves from just an idea to a negotiatable item for a government board.

Hopefully the lawyers can sort that out.

But as Mobushwacker pointed out in the accidently deleted comment, open meetings can be recorded.

Anything discussed in an open meeting is public ... even if reporters and members of the public are not present.

It's not unusual for county commissions and other government board members to forget this. Often they are the only people in the room, so it may feel like a properly closed meeting.

But it's not.

If, for example, someone walks in and announces that an employee of that governing body will be fired or disciplined, that immediately becomes public record, though the Sunshine Law allows it to be a closed-session item.

The Sunshine Law is intended to make the governing process clear.

Some say it hampers government, by requiring 24-hour meeting notices and public discussions for most issues.

What do you think?

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