Shining a light on government

Today marks the start of an annual journalistic rite: newspapers' championing open government under the banner of Sunshine Week, which starts today and runs through Saturday. It is a cause for which news organizations and citizens battle daily and a cornerstone without which democracy crumbles.

The law of the land mandates that governments operate transparently, allowing the public to watch over the shoulder of government as our tax money is spent and officials make the decisions that mold our lives. Virginia law, if research by First Amendment groups is to be believed, favors openness more than that of most states.

But more important than the law is the spirit. That perhaps is best expressed in the quote by James Madison that appears on the March 16 page of this year's Freedom Forum calendar: "A popular government without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy; or perhaps, both."

Experience demonstrates that Madison's sentiment is not a universal one. Most striking among local government's efforts to conceal its actions was Augusta County's ill-fated megasite deal. County supervisors decided behind closed doors to spend $440,000 in taxpayer money on a study into the feasibility of bringing a Toyota plant to Weyers Cave.

They reasoned that they had the right to do so under Virginia law, which allows government to keep private "records related to businesses that are considering locating or expanding in Virginia, prepared by such entities, where competition or bargaining is involved ..."

The application of that section of the law to the megasite study was validated by Toyota's part in the deal. In fact, supervisors' actions on this point were, by all accounts, legal. Further, we concede the necessity of protecting the competitive interests of both Toyota and county and state government.

However, we believe the law is flawed at the point where it allows public spending to be concealed under any circumstances. Spending decisions should be made in a public setting. It is possible and right for government to do that while citing the specific conditions under the law that exempt government from providing details.

Even as the letter of the law remains intact, nothing precludes government officials from seizing upon the spirit we describe. It is one embodied by Betty Jo Hamilton, the Middlebrook woman who pushed the megasite controversy to the forefront by filing Freedom of Information Act requests for portions of the study.

Hamilton provides enduring inspiration to those of us who recognize the necessity of open government. The duty falls not upon government alone, but also upon the people. So long as we cherish our republic we must insist on casting our gaze into those dusky corners where government works and freedom wanes in the shadows.