Transparency task force backs public hearings separate from regents meetings

DES MOINES -- A transparency task force of the state Board of Regents recommends that public comment hearings be held around the state a few days prior to each regents meeting, but a citizens' group and one task force member say that still insulates the regents from contact with the public.

The task force, during a meeting Wednesday in Des Moines, approved 15 recommendations that will go to the regents in August for consideration. The group, appointed by the regents this spring, worked for several months to formulate recommendations to help the regents and the three state universities with issues of transparency and openness.

Recommendations of the task force include: holding public comment hearings of at least one hour at each university, the board office and the two special schools prior to each regents meeting, with those hearings videotaped and made available online; establishing a written public comment option for all regents agenda decision items; posting conflict of interest papers for each regent on the website; establishing a transparency data page with information on each university; and holding at least one board meeting in each Iowa congressional district annually.

"This framework going forward gives us that much more chance to have input," said Regent Nicole Carroll, who led the task force. "It's kind of open season. What is it the public wants the board to know?"

The recommendations do not establish open public comment times during regents meetings, a move supported by the group Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement and by task force member and state Sen. Jeff Danielson, a Democrat from Cedar Falls who was absent from Wednesday's meeting.

After the meeting, Danielson said the recommendations fall short of his goal of having the board itself "bask in the sunlight of public scrutiny." The recommendations are small steps, he said, but still make it difficult for opportunities of public interaction with the board.

"I'm not sure the lessons learned of the past couple of years come out in these recommendations," he said. "The idea that you would record and forward a comment period falls short of face-to-face interaction. There is a value in speaking truth to power before they actually decide something."

It's possible some of the recommendations pushed by Danielson that weren't adopted by the task force will come up in the next Legislative session, he said.

"The board itself really needed to open up," he said. "And in these recommendations, the board itself is largely tangential."

Members of Iowa CCI, who have been critical of the board, said they were disappointed with the task force recommendations, which they said don't go far enough.

"The public is not allowed to speak at board of regents meetings, they still haven't addressed that problem," said Barb Lang, Iowa CCI member from Des Moines.

Members of the public can request to speak before the regents at a meeting -- a process that already was in place, Carroll said. Having open public hearing times around the state -- separate from board meetings -- will be more convenient for the public to attend and will give regents time to react to information presented and gather more information if needed, she said.

"We like to have a chance to make considered decisions, not just spur-of-the-moment decisions," she said.

But Iowa CCI members said that creates a "filtration process" that insulates the regents from the public. Group members also took issue with the fact that the recommendations were released Wednesday morning and the task force voted on them after one hour of discussion, without a chance for public input.

Iowa CCI and Danielson also supported a recommendation to implement a new conflict of interest/ethics policy to allow for publicly vetting all complaints, including those initiated by the public.

The task force did not include that recommendation in what was approved, because state law already governs how ethics complaints are handled against regents, Carroll said.

The approved recommendations also would appoint a transparency officer at the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa, to maintain a log of and track public records requests.

Several task force members said the recommendations will lead to better governance, and said they address past concerns that have arisen regarding transparency at the universities and with the board.

"I think this is an example of good self-governance, and I think this is a step in the right direction," said task force member and state Rep. Peter Cownie, a Republican from West Des Moines.