Friday, August 30, 2002
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Friday, August 30, 2002 |
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Judge OKs secret talks with city, county governments by dismissing Citizen suit By JOHN
MUNFORD
A Superior Court judge has ruled that local governing bodies did not violate Georgia's open meetings laws by meeting in mediation sessions that were closed to the public upon the order of another Superior Court judge. In siding with Fayette County, Fayetteville, Tyrone and Peachtree City, Superior Court Judge John S. Langford dismissed the lawsuit brought earlier this year by The Citizen. "Judge Langford gave a fair hearing to all sides, and we lost," said Citizen publisher Cal Beverly. "We are disappointed he chose to see the issue as a court procedure rather than as mandated governmental meetings, which occurred outside the Sunshine Law. "Despite the setback in this particular case, which involved the court system from the outset, The Citizen will continue to press for openness in local government and will pursue appropriate remedies when apparent violations occur," Beverly said. The closed mediations, which were ordered by Superior Court Judge Stephen Boswell of Jonesboro, occurred as the cities and county sparred over tax equity issues. The cities claimed their citizens were overtaxed by the county for certain services the city residents didn't receive. That matter is still tied up in court, and the mediation ceased without any resolution although the City of Fayetteville later dropped out of the litigation. In his ruling on The Citizen's open meetings complaint, Judge Langford reasoned that Georgia's open meetings laws didn't apply to the tax equity mediations since the laws do not govern the judicial branch of state government. Also, state Supreme Court rules for mediation require confidentiality during mediation sessions, Langford wrote. "The effect of this provision is the exclusion of outside persons and parties, including the news media," Langford said. Preceding case law and the fact that the mediation was ordered closed by Judge Boswell also played a role in determining the open meetings laws weren't violated, Langford wrote. Boswell, who was also named in The Citizen's suit, was also dismissed from the case. He had issued an effective "gag order" on the county and city officials who were involved in the mediations, keeping them from discussing the matters with anyone else. When a hearing was first heard on the matter in February, Langford issued a temporary injunction that restrained the government agencies from holding the secret mediation hearings.
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