Mar 29, 2007
Out in the open
Editorial - Charlotte Observer

What do Gov. Mike Easley, State Ethics Commission chairman Robert Farmer and Senate Republican leader Phil Berger have in common? 
 
They want to open up hearings of the new State Ethics Commission as well as the Legislative Ethics Commission instead of allowing them to be held behind closed doors. 
 
It's a fundamentally simple issue: In an era where the public has good reason to be skeptical about the ability of its government institutions to perform in the open and according to the highest principles, legislators seem to be totally clueless to the possibility that keeping things secret will only foster more public suspicion, not less. 
 
Think about it: The transgressions of dishonest public officials usually don't appear in the open. Former Speaker Jim Black, who has in effect pleaded guilty to felonies in state and federal courts, took illegal cash from optometrists hiding behind bathroom doors. He enticed former state Rep. Mike Decker to switch parties for $50,000 in private meetings. He quietly filled in Rep. Decker's names on blank contributions checks and pretended he didn't until the State Board of Elections asked him point-blank if the writing was his. And on and on. Mr. Black, and other public servants whose actions have cast doubt about integrity in government, have given privacy and confidentiality a bad name. 
 
That's why you'd think legislators would be eager to open up their proceedings to public scrutiny. And you'd be wrong. Instead of keeping hearings of the new ethics commission open -- as the old State Board of Ethics hearings were under Gov. Easley's executive order creating that board -- lawmakers decided confidentiality was in order. They worried that unfounded allegations against public officials would stain the reputations of public servants, and thought keeping hearings closed would be in the public interest. 
 
It isn't. While legislators are right to worry about stained reputations, the fact is the public already is pretty darned skeptical about state government, including the legislative and executive branches. 
 
Better that investigators initially screen complaints to determine which ones may be meritorious, and then open hearings of the Legislative Ethics Commission and the State Ethics Commission to public scrutiny. They'll find that the truth will emerge -- and the public can be trusted to recognize it when that happy event occurs.