Iowa Public Information Omission

So I was reading down the list of new appointees to state boards and commissions released by Gov. Terry Branstad today. And one thing that struck me was the number of commissions.

I counted 28 different panels on the list. There's an Iowa Commission on Volunteer Service and a Terrace Hill Commission. There's an Iowa Vertical Infrastructure Committee, a Public Broadcasting Board, a Prison Industries Advisory Board and a Preserves Advisory Board.

Juvenile justice, independent living, humanities, hospitals, historical records, health, medical assistance pharmaceutical and therapeutics, the arts and the homeless all have commissions and committees.

I mention this to beat, just once more, that long dead horse I've been thumping on for years now. We have committees to advise, oversee and guide almost everything and everyone. But once again, lawmakers decided they just could not bear to create one more panel to help Iowans who think their city council or school board or board of supervisors violated the open meetings law, or hides public records that should not be hidden. That's five consecutive sessions of futility for this issue, if you're keeping score.

Government transparency, apparently, remains less important than making sure Terrace Hill gets good advice.

Perhaps, if a secret meeting takes place inside a structure, we can take it up with the Vertical Infrastructure Committee. Or maybe, if aggravation over being denied a public record gives us high blood pressure or palpitations, we can take it up with the Board of Health. If long pursuing a judicial remedy to unlawful closure has soaked your finances, it's possible the commission on homelessness would be a good fit.

And take heart, someday the records you seek may be historic. There's a commission for that.

Many of these commissions were created to please citizens and groups that lawmakers actually listen to. Some are important. Many less so.  In the case of open meetings and records enforcement, they're mostly listening to interests that like things the way they are. The League of Cities, Iowa Association of Counties, etc, representing the local government leaders who pay them to lobby with your taxes. And hey, the Legislature itself isn't bound by transparency laws. Look how well it operates.

Anyway, it's just a bunch of cranks and media types and blogger/hacks who want this stuff. But I'm also pretty sure most Iowans want laws on the books evenly enforced. They don't want one set of lawbreakers to slip by while they get popped for speeding by a little enforcement commission the Legislature once created called the Iowa State Patrol.

Lawmakers did increase the fines for sunshine law violations. That's very nice, if you can actually get that far. And without an enforcement commission, the odds of that are much lower. And really, if citizens had an accessible outlet for their complaints to be heard and looked into, apology and reconciliation would be more common that punishment.  

So the higher fines are for show. Just like the Legislature's creation of a new searchable budget database in the name of transparency. Look, Iowans, here's the state budget, the one that was negotiated by the governor's staff and top legislative leaders behind closed doors. Feeling the warm glow of sunshine?

If only some of this stuff had happened in a state preserve. Then I'd have place to complain.