SCOTT CITY COUNCIL UNDERMINES THE PUBLIC TRUST

Governments that have become involved in riverboat gambling in Missouri are, by virtue of the issue's invention, having to feel their way along. In any upstart enterprise, there are bugs to be worked out and mistakes will inevitably be made. What the public has a right to expect from those officials empowered to act in their interests are honesty, openness and thorough deliberation. In Scott City, there has been a failure in this regard, one that developed not out of inexperience with the endeavor, but because a long-established standard was disregarded.

It is important to preface our opinion in this matter with a reiteration of our position on riverboat gambling at the Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority: we are against it. This has nothing to do with deterring competition from gambling enterprises wanting to set up shop along the Cape Girardeau riverfront; our history on this page has been one of favoring competition.

However, we continue to believe that the port authority facility outside Scott City, jointly controlled by Cape Girardeau and Scott counties, is not a proper venue for a tourist-based business. From its inception, the port was intended as a locale for the development of transportation-intensive industries, heavy-duty commerce that depends upon river, rail and roads. Switching gears after all these years of investment and turning the port site into an entertainment destination misplaces the original aim of the facility.

It is also necessary to note that we do not suggest in any way that Scott City should kindly defer to Cape Girardeau where riverboat gambling is concerned. Again, competition is what free enterprise is about, and if Scott City voters believe a floating casino can bring prosperity to their community, then they should approve such a measure and annex land to get the job done ... just not the port authority. There are other plans for that.

On Monday night, members of the Scott City Council met in a secret -- and illegal, by our reading of the law -- session to discuss their next step where riverboat gambling is concerned. Purportedly called together in emergency session to deal with a liquor license, the council members, without notification to the news media, extended the meeting to incorporate a discussion of riverboat gambling possibilities, including the desire of some to annex the port site. Was it just a happy coincidence that port authority officials were on the premises and available to discuss these matters, or were they just interested in the emergency action on the liquor license?

Here is what the Missouri Open Meetings Law says: Notice must be given for meetings of governmental bodies at least 24 hours before they start; bodies can close meetings for reasons of legal action, property transactions or personnel, but proper notice and the reason for closure must be given; a vote must be taken to close a meeting and each member's vote must be recorded in the official minutes of the body; a "closed meeting ... shall be held only to the extent a closed meeting ... is necessary for the specific reason announced and the governmental body shall not discuss any business during a closed meeting ... which does not directly relate to the specific reason announced as justification for the closed meeting."

The easy out on this for officials is to wink and say the news media make an issue over secret meetings because they get their feelings hurt. Examine such an argument. What are the news media if they aren't an extension of the public, instruments for gathering information and distributing it? In deliberately setting up the meeting this way, the Scott City Council members and the port authority officials were not just trying to confound some reporters. They were letting the public know these were not matters -- riverboat gambling and annexation -- to be concerned with until their participation was needed at the polls. This sort of arrogance not only patronizes the people of Scott City, but also the citizens of Cape Girardeau and Scott counties, whose taxes have helped develop the port.

Cape Girardeau's city council will meet Monday night to consider presentations made by companies interested in establishing riverboat gambling enterprises in the city. The information will be laid out for all to see. Scott City's council members should take note. The more information the public has, the better their government will be.