Last night, Spotlight Delaware and leaders from Delaware’s legal community held a frank and open discussion about the many ways our state government obscures the public’s access to information about how our tax dollars are spent.
This morning, I awoke to the news that Wilmington City Council is asking to make it even harder.
Wilmington City Council has passed a resolution asking the state legislature to allow them to meet in secret, bypassing open meetings laws, by adding yet another exemption to the state’s Freedom of Information Act.
Delaware’s FOIA law already has an extraordinary 15 exemptions – plus additional exemptions built into different sections of the state code. Among other things, these exceptions prevent the public from accessing email communications among legislators, stop us from learning how our tax dollars are being spent by the state’s two public universities (the University of Delaware and Delaware State University), and more.
In this moment when the public – regardless of political party – is calling for greater government transparency and accountability for government spending and actions, the General Assembly should be moving to eliminate exemptions from the FOIA law, not add to them.
What’s wrong with what Wilmington City Council is asking for?
Specifically, the requested exemption would allow members to “caucus,” which means to meet privately with members of the same party to discuss business. This is allowed at the state level, they argue. So why shouldn’t they be allowed the same rights?
The problem is that all city council members except one, Councilman James Spadola, are Democrats. So the entire Wilmington City Council, except Spadola, would be allowed to meet, discuss issues, and make decisions about everything from policy to the city’s finances completely behind closed doors.
They would emerge from those secret conversations with more than enough votes to pass anything they want to, with no public discussion required.
The first thing you would hear would be the vote. And then, it’d be too late for you to do anything about it.
Democracy relies on transparency
I live in Wilmington. This is the council that represents me. And I want to know what they’re saying when they discuss issues that will impact my city and how they plan to use the tax dollars I pay. I don’t think I’m alone in that.
At Spotlight Delaware, we believe the public is best served when the people’s business is done in the light of day.
Our entire reporting philosophy revolves around the idea that the people of Delaware need to know about issues being debated and have an opportunity to share their concerns before decisions are made. That’s how a democracy works.
We understand that posting the time of open meetings, publishing agendas in advance, requiring members to meet in person, making the meetings accessible to the public … all of these things slow down government processes. But that is the speed of democracy, and the price of living in an open society.
Wilmington City Council seeks parity with the General Assembly, where both parties can caucus privately, exempt from open meetings law. Thanks to the General Assembly, we already know the results of that practice: Bills come to the floor for a vote in Legislative Hall with limited public discussion. The decisions have already been made behind closed doors, away from the public’s prying eyes, annoying comments and questions, and all those contradictory ideas that slow the elected officials down.
Do we really want to hand the Wilmington City Council the right to make these decisions entirely in the dark?
What can you do?
Spotlight Delaware is an independent, nonpartisan news organization. We typically do not advocate for specific causes.
We do, however, advocate for our (small d) democracy, and that includes fighting for an open and transparent government.
As Delawareans, you deserve access to information about how your tax dollars are being spent. Delaware government is already notoriously opaque. Don’t let it get worse. Here’s what you can do:
- Email or call your state legislator and tell them to oppose Wilmington City Council’s resolution. You can find your state senator’s and your state representative’s name and information here.
- Email or call Gov. Matt Meyer and tell him you don’t want any more of the government’s business conducted in secret. Tell him to go ahead and announce that he’ll veto the bill if it ever reaches his desk.
“Government Accountability” is one of Spotlight Delaware’s four key focus areas. Every day, we are fighting to open government records to the public – fights that have, in just the past year, shed light on questionable grants made by the state’s opioid commission, the salary negotiations behind the hiring of the Rehoboth Beach city manager, and, yes, emails inside the city government about revoking permits for protests when they didn’t like what the protesters were going to say.
This is the work we can only do with the support of this community. We need your partnership in protecting access to public information, and we thank you for joining us.
