AMY PAULIN IN THE NEWS
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Law Boosts Rights of Citizens and Press
By Matthew Renda [The Voice Ledger]
The state's 30-year-old open government law has been strengthened significantly by permitting citizens and community groups to recoup their legal fees as the result of pursuing a lawsuit.
A piece of legislation designed to strengthen the public's rights regarding the Open Meetings Law was signed by Gov. David Paterson last week signed the bill sponsored by state Sen. Steven Saland (R,C-Poughkeepsie).
Once the bill is enacted, individuals and community groups will have their court costs and attorney's fees waived if they prevail in a lawsuit against municipalities and state agencies that have failed to comply with the Open Meetings Law.
"The previous law had what I liked to call 'baby teeth,'" said Bob Freeman, executive director of the state Committee on Open Government.
"Really, there was no significant penalty for those who were not in compliance with the law," he said. The Open Meetings Law was originally enacted in 1976 and is designed to ensure accountability and public disclosure on issues that affect communities and residents of the state.
Freeman said the legislation signed last week by the governor would require government entities to take a closer look at the law and make sure they are in compliance going forward.
"It's a deterrent," he said, noting, "It provides government bodies with a real incentive to comply and the public will be better served."
State Sen. Steve Saland (R,C-Poughkeepsie), the sponsor and author of the legislation, said he had worked closely with Freeman and Assemblywoman Amy Paulin to craft precise and accurate legal language for the bill.
Saland credited Assembly members and his fellow senators for ignoring partisan politics and working together to ensure stricter accountability at all levels of government and in municipalities statewide.
"I think that both Republicans and Democrats agreed it was the right thing to ensure a greater degree of openness than existed under prior legislation," said Saland.
"Obviously, we could not have gotten this done without broad bipartisan cooperation," he pointed out, noting, "If there were any 'no' votes, they were very few." Saland said he believes the law will demand greater accountability from municipal governments, but also pointed out that it empowers citizens to challenge boards they believe are using executive session as a means of keeping information from them.
"One of the most cherished rights we have is the ability to offer public debate on matters before governmental entities," said Saland, adding, "We have had the Open Meetings Law on the books for over 30 years to protect this right," he said.
Saland said he believed the prior law needed improvement due to an increasing reluctance by community groups to pursue legal action against government entities they believed violated the law due to the high costs associated with litigation.
When a community group of individual believes a municipality or school board is in violation of the law, the only remedy is to pursue legal action. But, the costs associated with a lawsuit prevented many community groups from pursuing litigation.
Saland's bill greatly increases the ability of the courts to award court costs and attorney's fees to a petitioner when it determines a vote or substantial deliberation, which affected the outcome, were made behind closed doors rather than in a public setting.
"In a democratic society, citizens should not have to spend their own money to force governmental entities to obey the law," Saland said.