Editorial—When there’s a doubt, let the light shine i

As The Journal aptly noted in a recent editorial, a May 28 meeting held in the county’s office complex was not advertised to the public. The meeting was held in an informal way by members of two Oconee government authorities who addressed confusion over a lot of the public’s money. Nothing at all illegal about that, but we think our elected leaders ahead of time missed the chance to let the public and the media in on what seems to be an honest disagreement by them—-and how they are going to resolve it to the public’s best interests. We want to point out here that 96.3/WGOG NEWS and another media representative were present, though they found out about the meeting by accident.

At the heart of the confusion is a $600 thousand payment that Oconee County makes each year to the Joint Regional Sewer Authority and how that money is to be spent.

We, like other media and some members of the public, suspect the provisions of law that permit government to meet privately are some times abused. In this case, it was the call of a meeting about matters in which the public and press have legitimate interest, yet there was no official public announcement ahead of time. And we think that was wrong. So, we join with our friends at The Journal in saying, “Keep it in the sunshine.”

That’s our view. What’s yours.