Shut up, they explain

Who says transparency can’t be done?

“I would prefer all of the information to be transparent. However, that is not realistic.”

—Russellville Mayor Richard Harris

WHY WORRY your pretty little heads over all this casino stuff, Gentle Reader? Let your betters handle things. You’ll just get confused. Or maybe some CEOs will get embarrassed. It’s technical stuff. Proprietary stuff. Just pays your taxes and takes your chances.

That seems to be the message coming out of Russellville these days. The next question is: How long will We the People put up with it?

Where is Winthrop Rockefeller and his merry band of reformers when you need them? Answer: They’re still back in 1967, as they’ll always be, trying their best to set things right in this state.

That’s the year they passed the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act and Gov. Rockefeller signed it into law. What a joyous time it was for those who would shine a light into the dusky corners of state government. As a wise man once noted, sometimes it would be nice to go back to the past; that would be progress.

Some of us knew that bringing casinos into Arkansas would create a mess. But who knew it would create this mess? The handling of the casino in Pope County gets shadier by the minute.

If we understand things—and we might not, given how crazy it sounds when we write it out—the brass in Russellville, Ark., established some sort of committee to review proposals for casino licenses in Pope County. And did so because they wanted all this to go down in an “open and transparent” manner.

Instead, members on the new panel want to sign nondisclosure agreements to keep details under wrap. And have closed meetings. And set up a private email exchange. It’s opposite day!

The city resolution that set up the committee says that review and evaluation processes for a license would be “open, accessible and transparent to public and press.” Actually, it uses the phrase “most importantly” when requiring such things.

And now, not so much.

Whuh happened?

Last week, at the very first committee meeting, members began talking about handling casino business in private. Jeannie Roberts’ story in Wednesday’s paper said members of the public weren’t allowed to speak at the meeting, either. Although some showed up and even asked to speak. Instead, committee members decided . . . .

Shut up, they explained. Richard Harris, the mayor of Russellville, also said an email group would be set up for committee members to talk about this business in private: “It’s a clearinghouse for [casino] operators to provide questions or comments to the committee.”

It’s a clearinghouse, he says. But it’s public information, the law says.

John Tull is an expert with the state’s Press Association and an expert in FOI law. He told the papers that the committee is subject to the open-records law, its meetings should be open to the public, and a private email exchange is fine and dandy—as long as those emails are handed over to anybody who requests them. (Somehow we get the feeling that those setting up private email servers aren’t interested in making copies.)

Mr. Tull also notes that nondisclosure agreements with casino operators do not cancel the letter of the very clear law. His words of advice sound like common sense. Except that sense doesn’t appear to be that common in Russellville these days.

“The committee or city would have the burden of proving the information is truly of a competitive nature so as to give competitors an advantage,” Mr. Tull said. Furthermore, if the city has delegated authority to the committee, “then it is certainly subject to FOIA and to the open meeting requirements because it would be a governing body versus only an advisory committee.”

Is all that stuff realistic? Or easy? Or cheap? Who knows?

But it is the law. No matter how inconvenient, them’s the rules. To disobey is to break the law.

There are already complaints alleging that some officials in Russellville have violated the FOI in regards to all this casino business. And apparently prosecutor types are reviewing those complaints.

There are several reasons why Arkansas FOIA is such good law. One main reason is: It’s enforced frequently.

Does everybody in Russellville, Ark., understand?