Our view: Live up to promise of openness

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When Newport mayor Tim Geraghty ran for the position last fall, he ran on a message of government transparency.

He said it concerned him that much city business took place at the council’s workshop meetings, which are not shown on local cable television.

So if those meetings, which are publicized in advance and open to the public, concerned Geraghty, we can’t figure out why he was willing to participate in a meeting that had been kept so quiet that even a member of the Newport City Council didn’t know it was going on.

Adding to the irony is the fact that after it was discovered that the meeting occurred, he refused to comment on why and how it happened.

Perhaps Geraghty needs to look up the meaning of transparency in the dictionary.

Surely after a quarter of a century in local government, Geraghty is familiar with Minnesota’s open meeting law.

The law does apply to informational meetings and meetings where no decisions are made, and it applies whenever there is a quorum present.

The reasons the law exists are simple.

The public has a right to participate in their government and to know what their government is doing.

Just like you said during election season, Mr. Geraghty.

Tags: tim geraghty, city council, open meeting law, opinion, newport, government