WASHINGTON - The Council of the District of Columbia passed legislation today to amend the Open Meetings Act, in a move that will reduce publicly available meetings by officials of D.C. government.
The legislation allows councilmembers to meet among themselves and with the mayor in private if no vote is scheduled and no action is being taken. Today’s vote was the second vote on the bill, sending it to Mayor Bowser for her approval or veto.
The American Civil Liberties Union of the District of Columbia is among several open government advocates that have opposed the bill and signed a letter of opposition. Other opponents include D.C. Open Government Coalition, Council for Court Excellence, Maryland-Delaware-District of Columbia Press Association, and Society of Professional Journalists DC Pro Chapter.
In response, Alicia Yass, policy advocacy director at the ACLU of the District of Columbia (ACLU-D.C.), said:
“Moving deliberations into private breeds the appearance of bad behavior, even if people in our government have no ill intent. It suggests they have something to hide.
The people of D.C. deserve to know what is happening with our government. And while the federal administration’s actions have received a great deal of attention recently for their impact on D.C., there is a lot happening at the local level, too, from budget decisions to new development to the District’s interactions with the federal government. This is no time for more government activity to happen behind closed doors.
We hope the mayor vetoes this overly broad bill that will limit government transparency.”
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