Let the Sunshine “Laws” In and Matawan will be a better place

We Advise, You Decide

Let the Sunshine “Laws” In and Matawan will be a better place

A responsible governing body makes decisions regarding matters to be discussed in Executive Session vs. Open Meetings. It should base each decision on the need for legitimate privacy not the desire for inappropriate secrecy.
The governing body should make these decisions with the advice of competent and independent legal counsel.

Those serving on governing bodies should use executive session judiciously and wisely. It should never give the appearance of doing something behind the backs of the voting public.

The purpose of executive session in governmental bodies is not to hide important information from the public, but to protect the innocent. As in the case of personnel matters when the information to be discussed could be false and harmful to the employee’s reputation by having someone’s good name damaged by falsehoods if made public. This would also expose the governing body to criticism and possible legal action for spreading falsehoods. A call for executive session is warranted in these types of cases.

The purpose of executive session is not to withhold information from the voting public that exposes prior poor decisions and errors in judgment. It is not to make plans to spend millions of tax dollars without public input. It is simply the wrong thing to hide costly mistakes and expensive projects in executive session when the public has the right to be informed. The misuse of executive session takes away a valuable component of good government, transparency.

In the case of Matawan’s governing body there needs to be more transparency and less secrecy. There will be a definite benefit for the taxpayers to elect a councilman who will ensure that all matters discussed in executive session belong in executive session. A councilman familiar enough with the law to challenge the excuses offered as justification for executive session when an Open Meeting is the right choice for Matawan’s taxpayers.