LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Dear editor,
Sunshine, nature’s best disinfectant, has never been more germane to the times Kentuckians face right now. Mr. Thiele, my 8th grade US History teacher made a relevant point that has stayed with me: history never changes, just our interpretation of the events that have transpired as more information comes to bear. Information or knowledge will always be enlightening and fundamental for an informed decision.
I am dismayed at current legislation in the Kentucky General Assembly in the form of House Bill 312, that attacks the Open Meetings Laws, or Sunshine Laws, in Kentucky. This bill recently passed out of the Kentucky House of Representatives. As a former public-school teacher, I am sensitive to the need to be transparent when it comes to spending taxpayer money. All one must do is look at the amount of money spent in Mason County alone by city, county, state affiliated courts and agencies, and public schools to appreciate how important it is for these entities to answer requests on how they conduct business and spend OUR money.
The Open Records/Sunshine Laws in Kentucky were instrumental in catching and convicting former Mason County Superintendent Tim Moore and his administration who were stealing and misappropriating taxpayer money. The primary reason this theft and deception occurred is because the fox (Moore and his cronies) was put in charge of the henhouse without proper supervision.
The concept behind these laws is simple, if it requires taxpayer funding, those spending that money must make public how that money was spent to those that ask. HB 312 undercuts these laws and puts more and more restrictions over who can make a request to see these records and increases the reasons to deny these requests under the very control of those spending the money. The very people who want to restrict these requests are the ones making the rules on who is taxed and who gets taxpayer money. The proverbial fox in charge of the henhouse. The degradations of these safeguards will destroy the foundations of these laws all the way down to local county and municipal governments and agencies that everyday Kentuckians are dependent upon for many of their basic needs.
I have yet to find anyone who believes knowing how tax money is spent and by who is a bad thing, other than those caught with their hand in the cookie jar.
If you agree, I encourage you to call 800-372-7181, the General Assembly message line, and urge Representative William Lawrence to rescind his support of this bad piece of Legislation and for Senator Steve West to oppose it in the Senate.
Mike Ross
Maysville
